Mr. Chair, I appreciate my colleague opposite raising the matter of traceability. I hope the minister will bear in mind that in Peterborough there is a DNA cluster which deals with human and animal DNA. I am advised that we no longer need tags and we do not need chip implants: all that is necessary is the registration at birth of an animal and then it is possible by scanners to trace the animal for the rest of its life. I hope the minister will take that into account and that when we go to traceability we go to the best available technology.
On the matter of slaughter capacity, in Ontario we need a capacity of 1,500 to 2,000 animals a day. I know the department is working on it, but as the department is working on it I hope the minister will consider small, regional abattoirs built to the highest possible standards, which can take not only beef but sheep and other livestock. In the long term, I think, such small, regional abattoirs would benefit us, and not just locally; in the end, they would be very acceptable to the international market.