Agriculture committee  I would conclude by noting an element that was mentioned several times today: Programs must execute quickly. It's important for all agricultural businesses that assistance programs be as responsive as the agricultural sector. We have to be efficient every day when we're in production.

Agriculture committee  I'm not sure I can answer your question. I know that, when our semi-trailers cross the border, they undergo very serious checks in the United States. However, I don't know what checks are done on the Canadian side when U.S. or Mexican goods enter the country. I have some doubts about that, but I don't have any evidence.

Agriculture committee  We would already see an improvement if both sides had the same standards. Consider the United States, for example. One could assume that we have virtually the same type of agriculture. We grow the same vegetables, although, of course, not in the same seasons. Americans eat our products for part of the year, and we eat theirs the rest of the year.

Agriculture committee  Yes.

Agriculture committee  Yes, product approvals should be facilitated. The manufacturers of plant protection products should be able to put the same labels on their products in Canada and the United States. That's ultimately the problem.

Agriculture committee  I confirm that it's important that this become a really serious issue. We producers are serious, and it's important that we be respected and taken seriously. As I said earlier, as a result of the way distribution is concentrated, these actors are simply too strong. Family businesses, small, medium and large, will never be able to compete with the multinationals.

Agriculture committee  Absolutely.

Agriculture committee  The timelines were six weeks 20 years ago, and they're six months now 20 years later. I honestly think the existing technology should help us do better than that.

Agriculture committee  It's a waste of time.

Agriculture committee  I think we've graduated from the era of the fax machine and the envelope. Matters should be resolved more quickly than that. Honestly, you'd think today's long timelines are deliberate. I don't understand the principle, but maybe my level of education is preventing me from understanding.

Agriculture committee  In my case, some foreign workers that I had 20 years ago still work for our business today. So absolutely nothing has changed; it's all the same; it's all copy and paste. But they're conducting labour market impact studies all the same. They know perfectly well they're doing them for no reason, but they're operating a machine when they know they could be using it to do something more productive.

Agriculture committee  They went up considerably, yes.

Agriculture committee  Oh, of course.

Agriculture committee  I agree with you.

Agriculture committee  The costs went up, for sure.