Mr. Speaker, I want to take this debate to a different level. I want to quote from the Weatherill report. In addition to the fact that we have lost food inspectors and we are concerned about food safety, we may not be addressing the big picture. The Weatherill report reads:
The risks of foodborne illness are also greater than ever before. Large scale farming and food processing...impacts of globalization...with access to foods from around the world, all contribute to increased opportunities for contamination. These same trends make it harder to trace the source....
I look at this one plant processing between 2,000 and 5,000 cattle a day, up to 40% of all the beef in Canada, and ask if perhaps the industrialized, concentrated corporate food model is not about food but about corporate profits and we would be better to support local farmers, local abattoirs and local processing