Mr. Chair, I want to thank my colleagues from Huron—Bruce and Lambton—Kent—Middlesex for their work in starting this. I would like to say to them and to all the members who are on the standing committee that I hope this exercise will be continued in the standing committee and that there will be a national inquiry into these matters.
I also would like to say that one of the purposes of these hearings and of anything that is conducted in the standing committee is to educate people outside the farm community on the nature of the industry. My colleague started to mention that. It is a huge, diverse, high powered, high quality industry.
I represent about a thousand farm families. Many people out there think we are just talking about beef cattle. About half the farmers I represent are in beef cattle. Another 150 farm families are in dairy. We have dairy farmers here and this is extended to the milk industry. People watching this should know that. It has flowed into that industry now. A year or so ago that was not the case. I also represent substantial sheep farmers, goat farmers, and one buffalo farm of 300 or 400 head.
I think Canadians should know this. We are talking about a very diverse industry. Also when they hear members talk, people think we are just talking about meat. We are not. We are talking about livestock. We are talking about semen and embryos.
Having said that, I ask my colleague, is he going to work with us on dealing with the United States? What does he think of the international team's report on the U.S. industry? What should we be doing about it?