Agriculture committee  Chair, I'm not against it. It's just that I'm worried that we'll relive all this on Thursday.

Agriculture committee  Thanks, Chair. I just want to highlight that the motion I put forward is meant to focus the committee on the work at hand, which is finalizing our report. As I mentioned, I think this is the underlying desire of all MPs around this table. It is not a partisan motion. It throws no rocks.

Agriculture committee  Chair, I was just at the point where I was commenting that I think we need to move ahead with the report, and I would like to table a motion. I'm going to table a motion now that states that the committee call forward no more witnesses and debate no more motions until the review of our competitiveness report is complete.

Agriculture committee  What I'm saying, Chair, is that I'm disappointed that the opposition members are delaying our progress on the report. I think the agricultural sector is awaiting our report. I think we have a duty to table the report in the House of Commons as soon as possible. And before I give up the floor, Chair, I would like to put forward a motion that will help us in that regard.

Agriculture committee  You can't move a motion while you're on a point of order, Wayne.

Agriculture committee  As a comment on the point of order, when Mr. Bellavance put forward his motion one or two meetings ago, there was actually a vote taken to table the motion. There was a vote. The majority of the people on the committee voted in favour of tabling the motion. When a motion is tabled, Chair, as you know, it's out of discussion; it's on the side; it's no longer under regular debate.

Agriculture committee  Mr. Chair, I would like to remind the committee that Mr. Bellavance's motion has been tabled, which means that it is on the side. It is not in play right now. It was tabled one or two meetings ago and is basically out of play, unless the opposition votes to bring it back into play.

Agriculture committee  Exactly. That is not what I said. It was that I just did not get a chance to talk to Mr. Bellavance or Ms. Bonsant. However, I did speak to my Liberal and NDP colleagues and I think we all agree that we have to move forward quickly with this report. It is our job. We have to finish the report.

Agriculture committee  I so move.

Agriculture committee  Chair, if the committee agrees, we can move ahead with Mr. Valeriote's motion today. I don't see a problem with that. The problem is that the other motions will require much debate, Chair, and it's going to slow down the report process. This is where I'm asking for the help of the committee and my colleagues on the other side.

Agriculture committee  There's cooperation for you, Chair. I just want it noted that I'm trying to seek cooperation and that's the kind of cooperation we get.

Agriculture committee  I do. I just want to ask the committee members if we could agree to move ahead with our report. I would like to see the report. I think we all do, because we've all had conversations about finishing our report on competitiveness so that we can publish it. Chair, this is not a motion, but I'm looking for some sort of agreement that in fact we would focus on the report, for example, next week.

Agriculture committee  The fears come from consumers. It is the consumers who can put pressure on the producers.

Agriculture committee  Is that based more on a scientific concern or a market concern?

Agriculture committee  Does anyone else want to comment on that? No. I'd like to know what sort of interaction you have had with commodity groups. There are the science-based arguments, to be sure, and then there are market considerations. One of the things I've noted is that market considerations tend to be made mostly by the actual groups and organizations that represent a particular commodity, because they're the ones trying to facilitate trade into other countries.