Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister will be meeting with President Bush toward the end of this month.
Although there has been improvement in the BSE situation, I hope he will use this meeting, as he has in the past, to urge that the Canada-U.S. border be opened to all Canadian beef and other ruminant products, including livestock.
Most people now realize that the closing of the border had little or nothing to do with health or science.
A single animal with BSE that did not even get into the food chain in Canada and a single animal in the United States triggered a massive and disproportionate response.
It made little difference that both animals were rapidly traced. It made little difference that the U.S. and Canadian herds are genetically one and the same. It made little difference that international experts ruled that the border closing was unnecessary.
I urge the Prime Minister to convey such arguments to Mr. Bush and to stress that the border should be completely opened immediately.
The BSE crisis has been a tragedy for farm families across Canada.