Mr. Speaker, I would like to pursue this a little further.
The Deputy Prime Minister is a lawyer and a professor of law. She said in her own presentation here today that the government is prepared to do whatever it takes. The government is taking these great strides. She has listed chapter and verse of these incredible efforts that have been made.
The fact remains that the border is closed to Canadian cattle. That hardship is being felt, as she has pointed out, in a very real way from coast to coast. We are seeing farmers and producers facing the worst crisis, arguably, since the depression. They have had to endure numerous natural disasters in the past but this is continuing to have a fatal human impact on the family farm and producers.
I want to ask again the question that my colleague from Saskatchewan posed. Why is the government not making every effort to have face to face consultations even if it means having cabinet ministers in Washington every week and high ranking Canadian officials there every other day making these submissions and making these points clear? Will the government not join with others in legal actions now if we are talking about doing everything possible; that is pursuing a chapter 20 challenge; invoking sections 7 and 11, health and safety considerations, business fairness considerations; and making the case before the courts simultaneously to the dispute resolution mechanisms that are available under the WTO and NAFTA? Why would the government not go to the wall and pursue this in the courts simultaneously to get the border open?
The minister is famous for talking about a timely fashion. It has been almost two years and the border is still closed.