Mr. Chair, I agree with everything my colleagues said, so I will not repeat what they said.
Canola is an iconic Canadian crop. It was developed from a plant called rapeseed, which was used to produce just industrial oil, but through the magic of modern plant technology, Dr. Baldur Stefansson from the University of Manitoba developed canola from rapeseed. In fact, “canola” actually stands for “Canadian oil, low acid”.
This is an iconic crop. This is not something that the rest of the world grows. A tremendous amount of canola is grown in my constituency and the constituencies of my colleagues. I think it's important to put in perspective how iconic this crop is and the importance that those of us who represent canola producers place on this particular crop.
Just to finish, I want to make the point that it's absolutely a farmer issue. A farmer talked to me this morning and said that for him and his family, it's the canola that buys the farm machinery and pays the mortgage. It's very, very important.
Let's not forget as well the thousands and thousands of other jobs right across the country. We tend to focus on producers, and rightly so, but when a crop is grown or an animal is fed out, it sets off a chain of employment that ripples right across the country. In my particular case, there is a canola processing plant at Harrowby in my constituency. I don't know how many of the workers there actually farm or produce canola themselves, but they are part of the canola value chain.
Our briefing notes talked about processing, truckers, local industries and port facilities. Just as the oil sands are often mistaken for an Alberta-only issue, this ripples right across the country. I guarantee that every one of us has constituents who work in the oil sands, and I can almost guarantee that the canola industry creates employment right across the country. Therefore, it's important for us to keep in mind the canola value chain and the workers who depend on the production of this most highly valued crop, which is actually producing the best oil in the world. It's no accident that canola is valued around the world. I think McDonald's french fries are cooked in canola oil, and we all use it at home. We know it's the best. Palm oil cannot hold a candle to canola in terms of all its characteristics.
From a contextual standpoint, I think we should appreciate not only the history of canola but also its widespread ripple effect through our country and economy.