Mr. Speaker, the point is well noted that our testing regimes are solid. In fact, as I can see, they are even stronger than the ones in the U.S. Why is it then that our beef remains shut out? It is not based on science.
I come back to the fact that the government has not done enough to build the face to face relationships on a general level to demonstrate why Canada is relevant, that 5.2 million American jobs depend on trade with Canada, and that 40% of the trade done with the United States is intercompany trade. This industry is interdependent and interlinked with the U.S. beef industry. The efforts that have been made are just not good enough.
Where is the major marketing campaign worldwide to create new markets for Canadian beef in the world? Why is this not done in Japan? Perhaps we need to increase our testing standards to open up new markets.
When I was in the U.S. last week, many of the congressmen and senators were oblivious to the importance of Canada-U.S. relations and how many jobs relate to a particular state. Not enough face time has been invested to build those relationships. We must make a much greater effort in that regard.
With respect to slaughter capacity, I have been out to Picture Butte, Alberta with my colleagues. I have talked to the feedlot owners and the ranchers. This is something that the government can do something about and increase the slaughter capacity. In my mind, as a former businessperson, it is a no-brainer.
When it costs $7 billion in damages to this industry, and one processing facility costs roughly between $100 million and $150 million, and those ranchers are prepared to invest hard dollars themselves, to me this is a no-brainer. It must be done and it is necessary to open up those new markets.
Further, we should be processing the beef that we have in this country and not just focusing on sending live cattle across the border. We should be creating more jobs and processing this product that we have in this country.