Agriculture committee  He owes you a glass of wine afterward.

Agriculture committee  Thank you very much, Ms. Patterson. Again, I apologize for the interruption. Pierre, now you know you have to.... On a morning like this morning, maybe a couple of dozen coffees and Baileys will make up for it, if that works for you. Now you're quiet. Thanks to our witnesses.

Agriculture committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Ross. I appreciate your comments. Now we go to Ms. Patterson for five minutes, please.

Agriculture committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Reynen. That was short and to the point. I appreciate that. Now we'll go to Mr. Ross for five minutes.

Agriculture committee  I call the meeting to order. I understand from Mr. Perron that we'll have a little bit of committee business at the end of today's meeting regarding the documents from our grocery company, so we'll maybe deal with that at the very end of the second hour. With just two witnesses in that second hour, we shouldn't have a problem dealing with that relatively quickly.

Agriculture committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I appreciate my NDP colleague's questions, as I have Cargill meat processors literally in my backyard, and I understand how much truck traffic goes by my place. I would certainly love to see additional processing capacity in Canada. We need to worry about interprovincial trade barriers to get that done too.

Agriculture committee  Thanks, Dr. Ireland. I have one last quick question. How many other infrastructure facilities like The Barn are there in Canada, where there is a designated facility to load and unload animals?

Agriculture committee  If you wouldn't mind tabling that with the committee, that would be great.

Agriculture committee  So he didn't break any of the rules. Okay. Thank you.

Agriculture committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just want to take a minute of my time here to put a notice of motion on the table that we can discuss later. I want to get it on the record for our next study on the grocery CEOs and the ministers. You have been given a copy of the motion. I'll read it into the record.

Agriculture committee  If you agree with that, then what is the holdup to adding some clarity to what seems to be either inconsistencies, or maybe not inconsistencies, but some objectiveness within the guidelines? What is the holdup that you aren't able to come up with a policy or strengthen this policy or have a little bit more clarity in this policy to address the concerns that have been raised?

Agriculture committee  We had some representatives here at a previous meeting from Humane Canada and World Animal Protection. They described our animal transportation industry as being littered with “systemic issues”, as being “poorly organized”, and as having a “limited” inspection regime from CFIA.

Agriculture committee  I have one last question, really quickly. You mentioned that we're kind of trying to get more of an alignment with the United States. The United States has that exemption. You said there was one fatal accident. Do you know how far past their hours of work or distance it involved?

Agriculture committee  Thanks, Ms. Fitzgerald. I have just one minute left, and I want to ask Ms. Kavanagh about her testimony here today. Your group has a history of making some claims that have been debunked. For example, during the campaign, your group made unfounded claims that livestock was the source of the pandemic, a claim that resulted in an open letter by more than 50 animal experts around the world, including the president of the World Veterinary Association, the president of the British Veterinary Association, and the director of the Center for Food Animal Wellbeing at the University of Arkansas.

Agriculture committee  Certainly, if you look at some of the conditions in northern Ontario, for example.... As I mentioned, there are no other alternatives to pulling over on the side of the highway, unloading and loading animals. I'm assuming it would be extremely hazardous, not only for the animals themselves but also for the driver, to be pulling over on the side of the highway and trying to handle a load of hogs or cattle in a winter storm.