Agriculture committee  About CAIS, I have to say the same as Allan, and I want to take my only example again. I've been there 12 years now. The first two were very good years, and then 1998-99 was a really bad year. I got $80,000 out of the program at that time. Afterwards, I got a couple of thousand dollars out of it.

Agriculture committee  I have a comment on the amount of pigs coming into Canada. Between 60% and 70% of Canadian pork is being exported. Lately more and more pigs, not live pigs but meat, have been coming into the country. The biggest concern we have as hog producers is that those pigs are being raised in China, being raised in especially Brazil and Mexico.

Agriculture committee  We talk about a lot of money from the federal government, and the provincial government is kicking in once in a while. We appreciate that. But one thing--and I know a zero is nothing--is that most of the time they forget a zero behind most of the numbers: $1 billion should be $10 billion.

Agriculture committee  In conclusion, our producers are doing what they can with the resources available to them. We have assumed increased costs associated with CQA, our industry's on-farm HACCP-based food safety program. We have a national identification and traceability system that will be implemented shortly.

Agriculture committee  Welcome, committee, and good evening. My name is Willem de Boer, and I'm a hog farmer from the east side of the island, Brudenell, P.E.I. I'm also chair of the P.E.I. Hog Commodity Marketing Board, which represents the interests of P.E.I. hog farmers. I'm joined today by Robert Harding, the board's executive director.