Mr. Speaker, there are scientific procedures and protocols that are internationally recognized and must be followed in a situation like this in order to get back into export markets and to assure Canadian consumers that the plant has the capacity to produce safe food.
The professional people at CFIA were on site all through this. They continue to work through some existing carcasses that were in the cooler to show the efficacy of the programming that XL has in place.They are called HACPP protocols. We have done that now. We have sent the samples away. Hundreds of samples have been taken from the carcasses that were cut. We are waiting for some of those samples to return.
CFIA people have begun to put together a report on what they have seen, what they have heard and what they have done in the plant during this time. They will have that report for the president of CFIA in the next days. He will compile that, another adjudication will be done by the professional people in Ottawa and once they have that, they will send a letter to me as to whether that plant is ready to reopen.
Last night we heard the announcement that JBS had been brought in as a new management tool. It will run the plant over the next few months to get it back up to speed. We welcome that.
I am here to tell Canadians that the certification of that plant will be as rigorous as it always has been intended to be, regardless of what the management will be. It will have to prove to us, on an ongoing basis, that the plant continues to deliver safe food. There will be continued oversight by CFIA, some 46 CFIA personnel in the plant, with the addition of a couple more during that re-certification process.
We look forward to positive results and to get the industry back on normal footing.