The comment I made about price hypervolatility is not really a concern for La Coop fédérée. That is not a threat to us. I was referring to Canada, as a whole.
Agri-food is a more stable sector, particularly because of the cooperative presence. These are businesses that cannot make swift agreements or fall prey to hostile takeovers by foreign non-Canadian companies. Canada's agri-food sector represents a big chunk of the country's GDP, as compared with other countries around the world. The increasing financialization of the agri-food sector and price hypervolatility may, in the long run, mean higher food costs for Canadians.
The average Canadian spends 9% of their income on food. In China, that figure is 35%. In Europe, it's 15%. Along with the Americans, who spend 7% of their income on food, we have the lowest food costs in the world. There is a much greater likelihood of our food spending going up than that of the Chinese. For them, the global economy could bring down food costs. Canadians, however, are likely to see those costs go up.
What we are saying is that the government has to take a cautious approach to liberalizing the trade of agri-food products. Fostering world trade is important; not only is it necessary, but it also stimulates the economy. But agri-food trade does require a certain degree of regulation, so that Canadians do not lose the tremendous advantage of being able to spend just 9% of their income on food. Maintaining that 9% is key, or targeting the Americans' 7% might even be better. Keep in mind, though, that the Americans subsidize a large portion of their agri-food industry.
That was the final recommendation put forward by La Coop fédérée, a major agri-food player. We are advocating that the government exercise prudence in its policies going forward and that it endeavour to maintain or reduce Canadian's current proportion of food spending of 9%.