Agriculture committee  I didn't hear Mr. Vigneault say that there were too many regulations. I heard him say that there were a number of levels of regulation. He was asking that people be able to talk to each other and exchange views in order to come to a satisfactory result for producers. I didn't hea

Agriculture committee  It should be based on producers' production costs rather than on [Inaudible - Editor]. That's where the main problem is.

Agriculture committee  I think it's essential to preserve supply management. Here we're talking about tools that provide producers with income security and cost government nothing. I'll give you an example. In the maple syrup sector, there were collective marketing tools in the early 1990s. Producers w

Agriculture committee  No.

Agriculture committee  In Quebec, yes, it's because we want—

Agriculture committee  Yes.

Agriculture committee  Yes.

Agriculture committee  Currently, anyone can import maple syrup as he wishes, based on available volumes. As for the impact on our prices, if the production sector in the United States developed fully, that would normally have the effect of lowering our prices. The advantage in Quebec and the Canadian

Agriculture committee  Not only in volume. Weather conditions in Canada enable us to achieve higher yields than elsewhere, and that's as a result of freezing and thawing periods. It's in Quebec, mainly in the Chaudière-Appalaches region, that you find the largest number of days of freezing and thawing,

Agriculture committee  Yes, it can move freely between the two countries. In Quebec, producers are subject to a quota system, so as to limit production volumes to a certain degree. Earlier I talked about the importance of quality control or safety control in the case of products that cross the border.

Agriculture committee  We talked about farms that are in production. Benoit raised the issue earlier. When these farms are sold, there should be a kind of obligation for them to stay in production. I'm not necessarily talking about regulations, but rather about a tax framework whereby the business, onc

Agriculture committee  First, I think we absolutely have to maintain the opportunity for producers to organize and market their products jointly. I think that's been a badge of success in the past and will remain so in the future, if we want to do business as producers. We can't ask producers to be sim

Agriculture committee  I'd like to welcome you more particularly because you're from my region. I live in the neighbouring municipality of Cap-Saint-Ignace. The town of Montmagny is my major centre. I'm a maple syrup producer. In our region, maple syrup production occupies a very important place. In my

Agriculture committee  I can wait till the others have finished. These people were in a hurry.