Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to be here tonight to debate the foot and mouth outbreak in Great Britain. As has been previously mentioned, the disease first occurred on February 20 and within about 40 days it has spread to Ireland and some other countries in that vicinity.
Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the hon. member for Yorkton—Melville.
The Canadian Alliance fully supports the minister and the government on the issue. We need to concentrate on preventing and keeping the virus out of Canada. We also fully support the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the Department of Citizenship and Immigration. However, due to the seriousness of the issue, the efforts of these agencies must be maximized. I am sure there will be some suggestions about that tonight.
We have called this an emergency debate but those are just the rules of the House. We are not in an emergency at this time, and we do not want the general public to assume something has happened when it has not. We do not have foot and mouth disease in Canada.
The Canadian Cattlemen's Association has released information to the effect that the risk is minimal if proper precautions are observed. It stated:
The Canadian Cattlemen's Association (CAA) reminded cattle producers that the risk of introducing Foot-and-Mouth Disease into Canada is minimal so long as the proper precautions are observed.
This is where I have been coming from on behalf of the Canadian Alliance over the past week or two. I have been trying to ensure that the standing committee on agriculture, the minister and the various departments are maximizing their efforts in this regard.
A couple of warning bells went off. One was the auditor general's indication that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency's veterinary service is understaffed and that there is inadequate preparation to bring in the next generation of animal inspectors. That is an indicator that we must ensure maximum efforts are put toward.
The comment of Dr. McLeod, who went to Britain, was that since Canada was not heavily populated with vets and training personnel that we needed to review contingency plans to make sure we have trained people and resources if they are needed. We should do that.
What I wanted to see happen here tonight and what I tried to make happen in the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food was for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency's plan to be reviewed and analyzed in that committee by members of parliament.
I want to point out that I am a cattle producer. Elected members like myself and the ranchers, cattlemen and hog producers we represent, have a lot to offer the minister.
The disease, as has been pointed out, can be carried in dirt, in infected food products, on clothing, on footwear and even on the wind. I know that the Saskatchewan outbreak in 1952 was caused by a contaminated piece of sausage.
Another unusual statistic I have heard during the course of this debate is that the virus can live inside the human respiratory tract for up to three days. As a precautionary measure, anyone who comes into contact with a diseased animal should wait at least three days before going near other ruminate animals.
The cost of not preventing the disease in Canada is virtually immeasurable. The estimated direct cost of an outbreak for the cattle industry and the export industry of beef, hogs and sheep is $20 billion to $30 billion. In Britain the damage to the tourism industry is believed to be about eight times the damage that has been done to the livestock industry. That damage will go on for years and years.
What should the government do? The minister of defence and minister of agriculture have spoken here. However, I have pointed out that the efforts of the government must be maximized to keep foot and mouth disease out of Canada. It then must prepare to implement an emergency containment and elimination plan should an outbreak occur.
I am a bit nervous about what the auditor general said and about the fact that we have not been able to examine the plan. The plan may not be as foolproof as it could and should be. It must be examined in the immediate future because until the threat in England recedes or actually stops, we face the possibility of an outbreak in Canada.
The government should do a better job of getting information out to travellers. I know this is improving as time goes along but here again it has to be maximized immediately.
The national advertising campaign that I have been advocating to ensure that all Canadians are adequately informed about the risks of the disease and how to prevent its spread, is now being put into place. I understand that material is actually being handed out to travellers at the airports and that frontline inspectors are questioning travellers, visitors and Canadians returning from Europe more closely.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has not been doing a full job to this point to adequately communicate the measures necessary to contain an outbreak. The CFIA has prepared a detailed manual on how to contain an outbreak but, to my knowledge, being a producer and also a member of parliament, it has not shared the information with farmers, local communities and local veterinarians.
It may be well and good for the director of the CFIA to know how everything is supposed to work, but if I were a farmer near the scene of an outbreak and I all of a sudden saw government inspectors in blue Suburbans coming in to take action, I would wonder why I was not told about the outbreak nor told what to do should one occur.
As we go through the issue with the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food, which is probably the best place to have it examined, farmers will become more aware of what is going on and what their role is and the role of other participants.
I understand that the minister just recently received the manual. While it has not been shared with members of parliament, I was a little concerned about the fact that the media seems to have had access to the whole document or a portion of it. Through this all-inclusive, non-partisan effort that we are trying to make as members of parliament, I would think that the Canadian Alliance and all opposition parties should know what is going on and be provided with all the information.
I think the Canadian Food Inspection Agency should be holding numerous regional meetings to explain to farmers and to communities the possible effects the disease could have.
The last point I want make in the time remaining is about the funding level for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. In order to carry out preventative measures and to carry out the implementation plan, it must have the resources. Even if it were multi-millions of dollars, that would be nothing when we consider the tragedy of our country losing multi-billions of dollars if an actual outbreak were to occur.