Yes, I could talk at great length, but you have only two minutes.
As for exports, I would say that the future is bright but not in the short term. Currently we are witnessing a contraction in production throughout the world, and not just in Canada or in United States. We see the same thing occurring in Europe and just about everywhere else. This is also happening in Asia, whether it be Japan or Korea. However, production levels are resuming in China and Russia is hoping to become a major exporter over the next few years. I wish them luck, but at any rate, time will tell.
In the medium and long term, its future may be bright, particularly if we reach an agreement within the WTO, which would enable us to further reduce tariffs for certain markets, which would also enable us to renegotiate the Japanese import system.
But how do we get to this point? How do we make it possible for our producers to survive long enough so that they can get to this point and turn a profit? That is the big question.
I know that all parties have agreed that we need to help the pork sector as much as possible. I know that further to negotiations with the Canada Pork Council, the government has implemented a transition plan for those producers who wish to leave the industry as well as a loans program to make survival possible for those who wish to remain.
Call options, either at the Chicago Stock Exchange or elsewhere, appear to show that there will probably be an improvement in the spring. Nevertheless, we thought this would also happen in the spring of 2008, and we were hit by the H1N1 flu.