Agriculture committee  I don't know if I understood the question correctly, so let me answer it by saying this. When it comes to research and different areas where we can create the revenue streams for farmers, I think we should also get back the stakeholder advisory committees we used to have for all

Agriculture committee  First of all, there needs to be a balance between public and private research funding. We recognize the need for proprietary research. We don't want to stifle innovation, but we also need to make sure farmers are kept on the cutting edge of innovation without being held to ransom

Agriculture committee  Thank you very much. I have a comment on your comments earlier. You're absolutely right, we cannot continue to sustain an agricultural industry that draws somewhere between $6 billion and $8 billion of government money from both levels of government every year. Yes, we have to c

Agriculture committee  For the non-BRM, we have the public goods and services pillar, such as the ALUS initiative, or environmental farm plans; food safety programs, which help us to more effectively brand Canada; and also the strategic growth pillar. I didn't even touch on the potential that we have

Agriculture committee  As far as the Uruguay Round commitments in amber spending go, we have about $4.5 billion and we're currently spending just under $2 billion, so we would have lots of room there. As far as equity is concerned, the point CFA members make is that some provinces are already spending

Agriculture committee  If you look at 1998, we probably had lower cash prices than we currently have in the hog industry, but the grain price wasn't double what it was; and I don't know what the dollar was worth back in 1998, but the industry was largely built on a 65¢ dollar. So all of those now are c

Agriculture committee  While she's thinking, can I add one more thing, Mr. Chair? It has to do specifically with the hog industry. If the European Union were to give the rest of the world simply as much market access with no tariffs as what supply management gives to the rest of the world in Canada,

Agriculture committee  That's correct. The Canadian Horticultural Council is a member of the CFA. They depend heavily on exports. The Canadian Sugar Beet Producers' Association is a member of the CFA. They depend on exports. The Canadian Pork Council is a member of the CFA. They depend on exports. La C

Agriculture committee  The income hasn't dropped as a result of exporting. The income has dropped as a result of many things, but the income drop is not contingent solely on exporting.

Agriculture committee  I'm not familiar with what the cattle industry asked for. The hog industry is not asking for ad hoc dollars.

Agriculture committee  We'd support it if they applied it provincially. We wouldn't support it as a national program, no.

Agriculture committee  Yes.

Agriculture committee  You also asked another question on what has improved in the CAIS program. You're right, the top tier in the long term will improve it. We have better negative margin coverage now than we had previously. We also have a better inventory calculation. As we're moving along, I know

Agriculture committee  I'm a hog producer and I would argue that if I'm making $5 a hog, the more I can produce to export the better off I am. If I'm losing money, the more I produce the more I lose. It's not the export market that has created the problem we have in our export industries; it's a combin

Agriculture committee  To the extent that it works that way in those industries that have decided they want to have supply management, then yes, we would support it. As a subsidy applied to industries going below the cost of production, based on current price and current production, certainly CFA membe