Mr. Speaker, the member brought up the issue of slaughter capacity. As viewers out there may realize, and many of them are very knowledgeable about the industry, we already have seen a 20% increase in capacity in Canada from where we had been.
We were at about 65,000 a week. We are operating at about 83,000 a week and there are plans to bring that up to about 90,000. Of course we have indicated that we should be at about 105,000. The member mentioned some of the tools that have been used. I am quite prepared to refine those tools in a way that is important, but I want to ask him a couple of questions about it.
First, I think it is important not only that we hit the macro number we need to hit, but also that we remember the regional variances in terms of slaughter capacity. It is not just important to have total slaughter capacity; it has to be in the right parts of the country. Also, it is important that the right kinds of animals are being slaughtered to make sure that our slaughter capacity covers the variety. I would appreciate the member's view on this.
Here is what I think is most important. The member for Newmarket--Aurora made this point as well in a speech. That is, in doing this and in providing government assistance, we must make sure that there are a couple of underlying principles. We have to make sure that the proposals in front of us are supported by sound business plans and that they are going to be sustainable into the long term into a situation whether or not we have access to the U.S. border.
I am interested in knowing whether the member and his party share those underlying principles as part of the approach that we need to take.