Mr. Chair, my question has to do with something the parliamentary secretary just mentioned. He mentioned that there were programs in place to increase slaughter capacity but that is not where the government's job ends. It is not enough to just announce a program.
I know of an entrepreneur who recently contacted the department to find out about this $38 million backstop so he could go to the bank with the details and let it know what he wanted done. He discovered that it would be two to three months before the forms to apply for the program would be ready. That is unacceptable.
I would argue, and I think the parliamentary secretary would agree with me, that it is not enough for the government to just announce the program and say that its job is done. When will the government do something to ensure that we actually have some slaughter capacity now?