It would be very interesting for the federal government to look at how cooperatives are treated in other countries where they're much more successful than in Canada. Our cooperatives are successful, but not to the degree they are in, for example, northern Italy and in the Basque Country in Spain. It would be very, very instructive to look at how those countries deal with cooperatives and cooperative development, because we really don't have a supportive relationship with the federal government for cooperatives in Canada, and I don't think we've ever had one.
On July 24th, 2012. See this statement in context.