Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the Minister of National Defence. I wish to say how pleased I am to be able to respond to the motion put forward by the hon. member for Brandon—Souris. I thank him for his comments and I thank his colleagues for their comments on this very important information session we are having this evening.
There is no question that if every member of the House does not deal with constituents who have livestock themselves, they certainly know people in their constituency who do. This is an incredibly important issue that concerns all Canadians.
I am pleased to be in the House tonight to outline to Canadians some of the precautionary measures that are being taken to ensure that we keep the dreaded foot and mouth disease out of Canada. We have to do all we can to keep that level of risk as low as we possibly can.
As previous speakers have said, we have a great deal at risk. I will not repeat the size of the industry involved in the clove and hoof animals sector of Canada, but it is a huge industry which affects not only producers but all upstream and downstream parts of our economy that would be and are involved in it.
The very words Canadian food conjure up to Canadian consumers and consumers around the world an image of the highest standards of food safety, animal health and plant protection. We cannot take that reputation for granted. It is a reputation that we must nurture. We have to protect it and we have to build upon it. We have seen how the reputation for safety can disappear in a flash by what has happened with the foot and mouth disease in the United Kingdom and, to a lesser extent but still important, in some other countries in the world.
We have not had foot and mouth disease in Canada since 1952. It was very serious but it was somewhat contained to southern Saskatchewan at the time. It took a lot out of the economy. It certainly injured a lot of people financially and mentally, so we do not want to see that happen again.
It broke out in early February in the United Kingdom and then it moved on to other parts of Europe. It is in Argentina, Saudi Arabia and some other countries in the world. However I must point out that there has never been a time when there has not been foot and mouth disease in some country in the world. Our protection system in Canada has maintained our protection from the disease since 1952.
It is a major catastrophe when it strikes, not only for individual farmers but for the whole economy. The estimate so far of the cost in the United Kingdom is $20 billion and the costs are not over yet.
Foot and mouth disease does not significantly affect human health. I can be spread by meat or animal products infected with the virus, raw or improperly cooked food products containing infected meat or animals.
We must do all that we can to protect our borders. I will outline a few things but not all the things that are being done by the Canada Customs and Revenue people as well as the Canadian food inspection staff. We have put many emergency measures in place and we will continue to add to those as we build on this. It is not something where absolutely everything can be done at the first hour, but we are building on that every day. It is a partnership and co-operative approach among governments, travellers, producers, farmers and visitors to Canada.
We have stopped the import of products into Canada that are susceptible to foot and mouth disease such as live animals, embryos, semen, meat, unpasteurized cheese and equipment that would have any soil on it. Extra inspection efforts are taking place at airports and seaports. We have increased inspection activities in the international mail sorting plants and courier ports of entry sites. There is increased surveillance of passengers and baggage arriving on international flights. Officers are questioning travellers. There is signage informing travellers and instructing them to cross over disinfection mats.
Travellers originating outside the United States are referred to customs secondary inspection. However I point out that travellers have a responsibility as well. As has been pointed out, they seek information. Information is being provided to the best of our ability to all those people as they come to Canada. The foot mats are there. We are using maximum use of the CFIA detector dogs that can detect plant and food material. We have increased investigations for the handling and disposal of international garbage at airports.
I know the Minister of National Defence will speak to the efforts that DND is taking. This week a shipload of U.K. military equipment was sent back because it was not as clean as it needed to be for entry.
The media has been given opportunities to observe the disinfection procedures and I thank them for helping with the information dissemination. Articles on this disease have been published in the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association journal. It is on the CFIA website. There is a new brochure called “What can I bring into Canada?” The CFIA has issued a notice to visitors and livestock owners.
TV commercials are being prepared. They will go on air just as soon as they are completed. Videos will be completed in the next day or two in English, French, Spanish and German for use on airplanes.
There is also a contingency plan. People have asked me what the contingency plan would be. We are a member of the North American foot and mouth disease vaccine bank if we have to use it. We know there is a debate in the U.K. now on whether it wants to use it.
The CFIA has sent letters to the industry across the country. We sent one team of veterinarians to the United Kingdom. Once its members return and go through quarantine they will be travelling across the country talking to veterinarians, to the livestock industry and to the public.
We have a partnership with the Office of Critical Infrastructure Protection and Emergency Preparedness, which we know as Emergency Preparedness Canada, to use its command centres, authority and resources. The Department of National Defence, the RCMP, and provincial and municipal police forces are included in that relationship.
We are also building on the relationship with veterinarians across the country. I could go on. Early detection is essential and the field staff is involved in that. There are partnership and co-operation by everyone across the country, including travellers and the industry.
I appreciate the opportunity to outline some of the steps being taken. I will close by saying how much I, the livestock industry and Canadians appreciate the fantastic work that has been done. It is a well worn phrase, but the people at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency have been burning the midnight oil to get these procedures in place as quickly as possible and thereby keep the risk as low as possible.