Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to speak tonight about the government's ongoing and continued support for Canada's livestock industry through the BSE related hardships it has endured over the past 22 months.
Though I am pleased to review the support we have provided to the industry and to pledge that our support will continue as long as it is necessary, it is unfortunate, dare I say devastating, that once again our hardworking livestock producers are being punished for events that are beyond their control.
Like all members of this chamber and Canadians across the country, I am extremely disappointed by the court decision that has delayed the reopening of the U.S. border to live Canadian cattle.
We know that our meat supply is safe, and we strongly disagree with the arguments put forward by the Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, otherwise known as R-CALF, in seeking an injunction to stop implementation of the USDAs final BSE rule that would have reopened the border this past Monday, March 7.
Canada and the United States have had virtually identical feed controls in place since 1997. These controls are fully consistent with international standards and the evidence to date is that they have been effective in limiting the spread of BSE.
I would like to point out that the USDA agrees with us. Two weeks ago the USDA published the results of its study of the efficacy of Canada's ruminant to ruminant feed ban and concluded that our system is effective. The American Secretary of Agriculture, Mike Johanns, said:
Canada has a robust inspection program, overall compliance with the feed ban is good and the feed ban is reducing the risk of transmission of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in the Canadian cattle population.
Mr. Johanns recognizes that Canada's regulatory regime is almost identical to that of the United States and that it protects both animal and human health. Based on that science, the USDA believes that the border should be open.
The USDA has indicated that it will go to court to defend its rule which should have opened the border on Monday. What is more, President Bush has also indicated that he will veto a senate resolution disapproving of the USDA rule should it pass in the house of representatives.
I must respond to some of the comments that I have heard around the activity of the Prime Minister in relation to raising this issue with President Bush. I can assure this honourable House that the Prime Minister raises this issue every time he meets with the President. In fact, the Prime Minister on Saturday, in his latest discussion with the President of the United States, again raised the BSE situation and his deep regret that the border was not going to open as it was originally projected to on Monday.
We must stay focused on what is happening here. The U.S. administration fully supports its department of agriculture and our Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food that the border should be open to live animals under 30 months. In fact, the Prime Minister and the President of the United States agree. There is no light between these two men. They agree entirely in terms of the fact that the border should be open to live animals.
The chair of the United States house committee on agriculture also said last week that science rather than fear should be the guiding principle in making decisions. Bob Goodlatte said:
I remain convinced that if we abandon science as our guiding principle, we will harm the long term health of our beef and cattle community. Cattle producers, the people who work in our processing plants and retail establishments, and our nation’s consumers will benefit the most from a committed course based on sound science.
He was right.
It is clear that those who know and understand the beef and cattle industry are supportive of reopening the border and the resumption of trade. Unfortunately, science and good sense are not the only factors at play in the decisions that affect international trade and, just as unfortunately, there is a group in the United States that is effectively using the court system fully legally to protect its own special interests. In doing so, it is causing heartache and economic distress for our livestock producers.
Because of that, the border is closed when all of us here tonight and livestock producers across the country know that it should have opened yesterday. It is unfortunate and it is wrong but it is the reality with which we have to deal.
We did know such an outcome was a possibility and that is why the government has been moving so aggressively forward in developing a made in Canada solution to restructure the North American industry and to reduce the reliance of Canadian producers on the export of live animals to the United States. I am pleased to report that we have taken significant strides in that direction and that we will be doing more in the future.
The $488 million strategy to reposition the Canadian beef and cattle industry announced last September is already having a significant impact: building domestic capacity. Domestic slaughter capacity, and it is important to focus on these numbers, is projected to reach around 90,000 head per week by June of this year and 98,000 head per week by the end of the year. That compares to the 76,000 head per week being slaughtered at the end of 2003. By the end of this year, we will have increased our slaughter capacity by nearly 30%. This will be of great help in alleviating some of the excess supply of fed cattle and to rebalance the market.
As well, measures in the February 23 budget will even further enhance Canada's domestic slaughter capacity. More than $17 million will be directed to further increase that slaughter capacity through the loan loss reserve program. In addition to that, $80 million over two years has been set aside to deal with the challenge of removing specified risk materials, SRMs, from animal feed.
The government cares about its agricultural producers and is doing everything it can to help them survive this catastrophe that is not of their own making. The Government of Canada has paid out more than $1 billion to cattle and other ruminant producers since BSE was first discovered in our country in May 2003. Millions of dollars more have been committed through the repositioning strategy, the BSE recovery program, the transitional industry support program and the cull animal program.
Since September 2004, federal and provincial governments have committed $2.6 billion for BSE related initiatives. That funding will help our cattle and other ruminant producers get through this difficult transition period while we continue to build our own strong and profitable Canadian livestock industry that is not overly reliant on the export of cattle to the United States.
We are also pursuing other markets. The Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food has been continually on the road making the case that Canadian beef is not only the best beef in the world but is also the safest beef supply in the world, and his efforts are paying off.
I take umbrage with some of the comments that I have heard here in relation to the activities of the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food. No one has been working harder in these past number of months to develop new markets so that our producers are not as reliant on the United States. I resent the fact that anybody would suggest that our Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food is not doing everything he can to support our producers.
The minister has travelled to different continents and engaged in marathon meetings with government and industry officials in an effort to reopen markets to Canadian livestock and meat products. He has travelled widely in Asia. He has been to countries in Latin America and North America. He has focused his attention not only on the U.S. market, but has travelled to Mexico to try to regain access to our markets there.
Why has the minister travelled so extensively outside of Canada and the United States? It is because he knows the important role that markets outside of North America play in the profitability of the Canadian beef industry. Many of these markets, particularly in Asia, import the cuts of meat that we do not generally consume in North America, and this provides additional value for each animal slaughtered.
Let us not forget that Japan, Korea and Taiwan were Canada's third, fourth and fifth largest markets for Canadian beef and beef products prior to the discovery of BSE in May 2003. This government takes very seriously the need to normalize trade with these countries.
There has been unprecedented cooperation between government departments such as Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, the CFIA, international trade and our foreign posts abroad. As a result of this collaborative effort, we have made significant progress in opening Asian markets to Canadian beef and beef products.
The efforts of our Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food have netted some very positive results. Let me articulate some of these. After the minister travelled to Asia, Macau reopened its borders to Canadian beef. Korea, Japan and Vietnam lifted their bans on bovine semen and embryos. Hong Kong has indicated that it is prepared to open its market to boneless beef under the age of 30 months. Canada signed important protocols that allowed the Chinese market to open to Canadian bovine genetics, semen and embryos. Taiwan indicated that its BSE risk assessment consultation committee will recommend opening the Taiwanese market as long as there are no new confirmed cases of BSE.
As well, it should be pointed out that during the Prime Minister's recent visit to Japan, Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi indicated that, based on science, Japan intends to resume beef imports as soon as possible. Again, that was our Prime Minister talking to the Prime Minister of Japan. Our Prime Minister has been relentless in talking to world leaders about how important it is to reopen markets to Canadian beef.
These are all positive measures, demonstrating to the Asian market that Canadian beef is safe to eat. The Government of Canada is also working with the Americas.
We continue to assure the Mexicans of the integrity of Canada's science and regulatory system and are seeing success in this regard. The Mexican secretary of agriculture has expressed confidence that there is a low prevalence of BSE in the livestock in North America and that effective measures are in place to protect human and animal health.
Canada will continue to work with Mexico and the United States in order to develop a North American approach to countering the problems associated with mad cow disease.
We are very encouraged because Lebanon recently accepted Canadian certification for live cattle. We view this as an important step forward toward normalization of trade and hope that it will encourage other countries to adopt similar science based decisions.
We know there is more to do. The government is committed to continuing our intensive efforts to reopen borders and to normalize trade in ruminants and ruminant products. As well, we will continue to develop the repositioning strategy announced in September to build a stronger domestic industry.
The government will continue to stand behind Canada's beef and livestock industry as we have done since the beginning of the BSE crisis. I should point out that not only is it government that stands solidly with livestock producers, but so do the Canadian people.
After the first Canadian case of BSE was discovered in 2003, beef consumption actually went up in this country. That is a strong endorsement for the industry and a strong indication of the confidence the Canadian people have for the steps the government has taken to ensure that the Canadian food supply is safe.
Our livestock industry has been dealt a series of terrible blows since May 2003 but we have stood with them in their time of distress, and we will continue to do so. In doing so, we will build a stronger domestic industry in which Canadians will continue to enjoy worldclass beef and beef producers will make a profitable living for them and their families.