Mr. Speaker, the issue of value added is an interesting one. Over the last few years I have found that the leadership on this issue is coming from our small communities. The leadership is coming from local people who have the gumption to get up and get together, and put companies together and go out and do something.
Unfortunately, these people have waited years for the government to do something and it has not happened.
Regarding the BSE crisis, there are a couple of places where the government could show some real leadership in this value added area. One area where the government could show leadership is in the area of slaughtering animals and packing. We have sat here for almost a year now. We have last year's group of cull cows that are not marketable. The government has sat and waited. This group of cows is still out there.
We have now come to the second cycle. We now have two years of cull cows. The government has not taken the initiative and put a couple of plants in place to deal with those cull cows. The government has not insisted that the Canadian fast food companies use those cull cows. The result is that we have two years of cull cows.
There is also a problem with the feeders. The slaughter companies have decided that they do not know if they can put extra packing lines in place. They do not know what the future is and how long those lines would be operational. The slaughter companies are hesitant about investing money when the government has not given them any direction about how long they will have to wait to recover their investment. These are a couple of areas.
We must move those cull cows out of the system. It looks as though we will end up having to rationalize those animals. I do not think there is anyone who wants that to happen. If it happens, it will be because the government has completely failed to show leadership over the last year.
It would be a terrible situation if we lost the market for those younger animals as well. One fact that has not been mentioned too much today is that the border is still open to animals that are 30 months and under, as long as they are packed and in boxes.
There is an opportunity for us to move some of that beef through the slaughter plants, freeze it and ship it to the United States. We have a market for it. However, we need that extra slaughter capacity and we need it quickly, or we will lose that market. We will lose our feedlots. Those people are on the edge of a bad situation right now.