Subcommittee on Food Safety committee  Let me answer the last question first. As to the CWD issue, I can't speak to that. Bison don't get CWD, and our practices are to try to keep animals unconfined, in large ranges, to try to restore the ecosystem at the same time as we restore the bison. I can't say I'm not familiar with those practices.

Subcommittee on Food Safety committee  Mr. Chairman, on the question of the standards for non-export federal, it seems to me we know what food safety requirements are. This is not new science. CFIA could set a standard and a plant could either meet it or not. It may not be, it would not be, the full standard required for export, but it would meet all food safety requirements.

Subcommittee on Food Safety committee  Well, certainly the federal plants have standards. We understand that those standards are driven in part by our trading partners.

Subcommittee on Food Safety committee  In terms of the standards that may be required by trading partners, if in fact all those requirements are driven by our trading partners, the next question is this: what does food safety really require? I'd go back to the question asked by the former Prime Minister--namely, why is something that's safe in Alberta not safe for somebody in Ontario?

Subcommittee on Food Safety committee  That's right. So it seems to me you could have a round federal seal for export and a triangular seal for domestic consumption.

Subcommittee on Food Safety committee  To give you an example with bison, the cost, we understand, of the health and safety issues in the slaughter plant for bison runs at about $50 a head per bison, which has been passed back to the producer. That includes the cost of the inspector, the cost of rendering—and remember, rendering an animal doesn't get BSE—and finally, the cost of all the testing that has to go on there.

Subcommittee on Food Safety committee  Clearly, that kind of technology is the very thing we should be talking about. Not only does it make safer food, but it allows us to have healthier food, because in the end, safe food that's not healthy is no answer; it's only a partial answer.

Subcommittee on Food Safety committee  Let me give you an example of things that I think are not practical. On the question of provincial plants and federal plants, one of the issues we discussed with the former Minister of Agriculture was the fact that federal plants require things like paid parking lots, while provincial plants don't.

Subcommittee on Food Safety committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. My name is Thomas Olson. I am the chairman of the Bison Producers of Alberta. Perhaps I can give a little background to the BPA and its interest in food safety. Bison producers in Alberta represent approximately 25% of the bison production in the world.