Mr. Chair, the fact of the matter is that we do not have BSE. The major market that we need opened to us is the U.S. market. If it were based on science, we would be in that market.
The fact of the matter is that the Americans are playing politics with the issue and one of the worst is Senator Tom Daschle. He stated just three days ago:
The Canadian-born cow found last month in Washington State and a cow found in Canada last May are reason enough to deny all beef from that country.
He meant Canada.
I would encourage the Government of Canada to prepare a list of areas where there is even an inkling that there is a product coming across our border that we can retaliate with. The only thing the Americans understand is hardball and the government must play it.