Mr. Speaker, last week, the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food told us that the ban on Brazilian beef was necessary because Brazil had failed to complete a questionnaire and public health was at stake.
Recently, we learned that Canada knowingly continued to import meat from Great Britain, Spain, France and several other European Union countries, even after the risks of mad cow disease had become known. I would remind members that these imports were still going on last year.
Will the minister explain to the House how Brazilian beef would be a greater threat to public health than the thousands of kilos of meat from the European Union?