Mr. Speaker, the UPA, the Fédération des producteurs de bovins du Québec and the Fédération des producteurs de lait du Québec have put out an urgent appeal to the government concerning the Levinoff-Colbex slaughterhouse. Since the mad cow crisis started, the federal government has done absolutely nothing about cull cattle in Quebec, according to Michel Dessureault, president of the Fédération des producteurs de bovins.
Producers decided to inject more than $30 million, and the Quebec government is prepared to give $19 million. How much is the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food—the real one, with the moustache—prepared to announce right now to ensure the survival of the only large-scale slaughterhouse in eastern Canada and also of the entire slaughter industry in Quebec?