Agriculture committee  For some years now in Quebec, there has been a promotional budget in which producers have invested in cooperation with the slaughtering structures. People were appointed to work on developing pork products for restaurants, hotels and even hospitals, and so on. Progress has been made there, and pork products are increasingly being served in the restaurant chains such as Saint-Hubert and Scores in Quebec.

Agriculture committee  That can work for a specialized single-commodity hog farm. In the case of a multiple-commodity farm, that is to say one with two or more types of production, as in the case you referred to a little earlier, or in the case of a farm that only has family labour, it won't work. What can we do on the farm to eradicate circovirus?

Agriculture committee  I'm going to start, and if Mr. Schlegel has something to add, he may do so. This is one of the cases in which the government could offer financial support through the amber programs. The public sets requirements, but that's not compensated for by the price of our product. When consumers buy it, we don't recover what it cost us to meet those requirements.

Agriculture committee  I'm going to tell you about prices in Quebec these days. Prices aren't the same across Canada, I believe. According to an American reference based on various markets, I can tell you that the price in Quebec this fall was 35¢ less per kilo than the U.S. price. We asked the Régie des marchés agricoles et alimentaires to freeze the price.

Agriculture committee  Every one percentage point of herd losses equals $1.25.

Agriculture committee  If, in a given year, I have 5,000 hogs, I multiply $1.25 by one percentage point of mortality.

Agriculture committee  In Quebec, the Financière agricole is responsible for loans to producers and for agricultural income stabilization insurance. The procedure is similar to that elsewhere in the country. On average, the percentage remains around three or four percent. Last year, it reached eight percent.

Agriculture committee  Yes, it's easy to prove, since Quebec veterinarians and the Financière agricole du Québec conducted surveys last year. On the premises of the farms themselves, 270,000 hogs died. They didn't make it to the slaughtering stage. In addition, an equal, if not greater number of hogs made it to slaughter, but their weight was much lower than it would have normally been, which resulted in a significant shortfall on the production side.

Agriculture committee  We don't think that will solve the problems in the short term because the expression “short term” would mean yesterday. I'm going to be frank with you: it would have to be within a year, ideally, but we have to go about it intensively. If things are done too suddenly, that might not be enough, once again.

Agriculture committee  I'd like to add something to what Mr. Schlegel said. With regard to production, to be more competitive with U.S. businesses, for example, Quebec producers don't see themselves operating a herd the size of those in the United States. The moratorium has been lifted, but it's still impossible to establish production structures similar to those of the Americans on sites of the same size.

Agriculture committee  There have been no talks with the government on this subject. We brought the matter up with provincial representatives, but we were told to go to the federal level, since that's a federal responsibility. We know that, under the CAIS program, as you mentioned earlier, a person who manages two or more types of production is penalized.

Agriculture committee  I personally haven't received any. Perhaps the Canadian Pork Council has. The Canadian Pork Council represents us at the federal level. Perhaps Mr. Schlegel has a little more information?

Agriculture committee  Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, members of the committee. As Vice-President of the Fédération des producteurs de porcs du Québec, I would like to thank the members of the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food for this invitation. In view of the economic importance of pork production in Quebec and the extent of the current crisis, you'll understand why the federation readily accepted your invitation.