Mr. Chair, I would like to thank my colleague for setting the record straight on the reality of what happened in Montreal.
It is interesting that we hear a lot of talk these days, as we have since September or longer, about the government's stated priority of increasing slaughter capacity for our cattle in this country. The Liberals said they would make it a priority for the CFIA to expedite the opening of additional capacity when in fact there was a facility in Salmon Arm, B.C., which was slated to be open in July of last year.
Interestingly enough, when the CFIA went in to give the final approval, the operators were told that they needed to fix just a couple of things and if they fixed them the CFIA would be back the next week. The next week the CFIA went back and, oops, there were a few more things that had not been noticed the first time. This went on for months. This is not how we expedite opening up the capacity.
In fact, our party raised the issue in the House in the fall, five months into the process, and that was when, 48 hours after that discussion, finally the slaughterhouse magically was granted its operational permit and was open for running. If that is the government's idea of opening, encouraging and expediting slaughterhouse capacity, I would hate to see what it would do if it was trying to drag its heels.
Any increase in slaughter capacity is desperately needed in this country. We have been pushing for it, with real progress, but instead, any increase that has come has been in spite of and certainly not because of any government programs.
The loan loss reserve program for all intents and purposes does not exist. The forms are not available. Finally, after the five banks would not sign on, the government talked its own agency, the FCC, into coming on board with this. There was a great announcement about it, except that two weeks later when I spoke to my local FCC rep, he told me he had never heard of the program. If he has not heard of it, how can he do any good with it?
I ask members, what kind of effectiveness is that? It does not make it happen. There is a lot of talk, but it is A for announcements and D for delivery.