Mr. Chair, I have a comment. I wrote down a quote from the member's speech. She said the beef industry has taken a hit. With all due respect, the reaction I have to this is that there is a misunderstanding of the extent of this problem. It is not only the beef industry. It is the hog industry, it is the sheep industry, it is the tractor industry, it is the feed industry, and it is the car dealer industry.
I want to make a point, too, that it is not only Alberta and Quebec. The farmers in Nova Scotia have been devastated by BSE. All farmers have been devastated by BSE. If we want to add to BSE, let us add the effects of hurricane Juan and the flooding that they have had to contend with. It has been blow after blow to the farmers in Nova Scotia. I recently met with the Atlantic Farmers Council president and the Nova Scotia Federation of Agriculture and they were telling me about families who are about to lose their farms, farms that have been in business for decades and for generations.
Here is my question. When the member for Yellowhead was saying that the border with the United States should be open, the Minister of Agriculture stood up and said he did not think the border should be open. This baffled me, because my understanding is that the government is trying to open the border again, but when the member for Yellowhead said the border should be open, the Minister of Agriculture made a point of standing up and saying no, the government does not want the border open yet, that it is waiting for the science. It is not trying to open the border.
Could the member clarify this for me? We want the border open and we want it open as fast as possible. We do not want to wait. We do not want any reasons or unreasonable excuses.