Agriculture committee  No.

Agriculture committee  The issue of competitiveness factors is a vast one. Roughly 15 years ago, our dollar was worth 85¢ and the pork industry was doing well. I took care to mention that, when our currency was at only 68¢, we neglected productivity issues. That additional advantage enabled us to exploit those major competitiveness factors, in both the processing and production sectors.

Agriculture committee  That won't have any impact.

Agriculture committee  I believe my colleague has already discussed the subject, but I'll nevertheless point out that the problem here isn't the wages we pay. For the type of business we operate, these are really very competitive wages. Olymel currently offers the best wages in North America, but that's not enough to attract workers to this manufacturing sector instead of to the oil and gas sector.

Agriculture committee  Having regard to the size of production, it is our view, I believe, that Quebec should acquire infrastructure enabling its pork industry to be as competitive as that of the rest of Canada and North America. I believe we agree that 11 facilities in Quebec is too many. However, even if we created a committee, we wouldn't agree on which facilities should be chosen.

Agriculture committee  You have to get a clear understanding of the problem and perhaps divide Canada somewhat into regions. Western Canada is a region where pork production doesn't go back 30 years. The expansion resulted from the cancellation of the Crow's Nest western grain transportation program.

Agriculture committee  No. In production, there's still a limit because of transportation costs, but the benefits generated by large-scale businesses can offset additional transportation. However, unless we manage to find a niche for each facility and each specific product... You don't develop an industry just with specific products.

Agriculture committee  Thank you for your question. I believe you want to know whether we have a solution to get us through this crisis. We have to establish parameters together, that is everyone around this table. As we speak, there is a farm income crisis that has been exacerbated by the health question, particularly in the east and perhaps somewhat in central Canada.

Agriculture committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Good morning ladies and gentlemen members of the committee. First of all, I'd like to thank you, on behalf of Olymel, for this opportunity to present our views on the crisis — because there is a crisis — currently raging in the pork industry. It isn't being experienced in the same way in the production and processing fields.