Mr. Speaker, I am rather amazed at some of the remarks the member for Newmarket—Aurora made referring to the border being shut tight as a drum. Does the member not realize that in terms of beef itself, we are exporting more beef to the United States, not live animals, than we were prior to BSE? We have increased those exports to the United States. That is not shut tight as a drum.
In fact, we are the only country in the world which has had BSE and has managed to get into the market. That is as a result of the good work of the former prime minister, the current Prime Minister, the current Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, and many others. Let us be careful of the facts. I would want her comment on that.
I also want to make one comment because the attack from the other side seems to be on the government here in Canada. The Canadian government is not the problem. The group R-CALF is the problem. I want to quote the senator from Kansas, Mr. Roberts. This is what he said in a senate hearing the other day and I wonder if the member would agree with this quote. He is talking about the committee that is trying to ban or stop the USDA allowing imports from Canada into the U.S. He said:
Be careful what you ask for. We will take a giant step backward in our efforts to reopen markets to Japan, or for that matter, anywhere, if we vote today to approve this resolution.
The same international science and guidelines that say that U.S. beef and animals under 30 months of age are safe also say that the beef and animals in Canada under 30 months are safe as well. That is the international standard. That is the sound science standard. That is the kind of science we have in this country. We should be into that market. Do members opposite not think they should be going after the U.S. instead of the Government of Canada, which is working in the interests of Canadian producers?