Thanks very much, Mr. Chair, and thank you to each of you for your presentations this morning.
I've had a lot of calls in the last couple of days. I was going to mention this to François of the Manitoba Pulse and Soybean Growers this morning. I've had a number of them indicate to me that there's a new pulse in Manitoba in the last 30 hours. I just wanted to see if you could concur...with the amount of pulse that you're using. You mentioned that to me.
Mr. Chair, that's quite a sidetrack.
I was going to follow up on what the chairman has already asked of you, Mr. Dickson. You're at 20%, you've indicated, in terms of the amount of grain grown in Manitoba that goes through your industry, never mind what the beef industry uses in this province. We've talked about the expansion of both of those. Coming from Brandon myself, I'm concerned about what happens if this agreement isn't signed and doesn't go forward, and the opportunities lost in this whole industry.
I know what it would do to western Manitoba's economy, never mind all of Manitoba's economy, and they're extended into the other areas. If it didn't go forward and we were not able to export more hogs, there would be 3,200 or 3,300 jobs lost in just those two plants, and that's within the walls, never mind the transportation of product in and out of those areas.
Could you elaborate on job creation and the importance of this agreement?