Mr. Chair, let me first point out to that member and the member who spoke before him, there are three very specific commitments in Speech from the Throne
One is to ensure that we could strengthen the agriculture industry. I think that is a fairly strong commitment. Second is to deal with the border issues particularly related to BSE. Third, and most important, is the importance of ensuring that we have a strong and viable rural Canada. That is a very specific commitment in the Speech from the Throne as well.
I spent four years as the secretary of state for rural development. I travelled rural Canada from one end of this nation to the other trying to ensure that we had strong and viable communities and that our young people could have a future in those communities. That type of commitment is a demonstration of the government's ongoing willingness to deal with the issues facing rural Canada, including agriculture.
In terms of the specific meeting that the member talked about, those individuals engaged in the meeting are primarily engaged in developing the parameters around the set aside programs, not in dealing with the CAIS program. The issue there, and the hon. member from Ontario would appreciate this, is to find a national platform for delivering a set aside program so the necessary number of animals are removed from the marketplace and the price can continue to do what the price has been doing in recent days, and that is recovering.
The initiative needs to reconcile the different perspectives by different parts of the industry and by different provinces, but we are determined to find that solution. We are determined to have that national program. We are determined to bring some rationality back into the marketplace so producers can make business decisions based on a market that is rational and operating in a way that it should. The men and women of good faith are engaged in that process. They worked through the day yesterday and through the day today. We will work with them to ensure that type of solution can be found. As the hon. member mentioned, it is critical and it is important. I have given my instructions to them to ensure that they work towards a solution that will result in a program that will benefit producers from coast to coast.