Agriculture committee  With the Canadian government and the energy department—I do not remember which one—we've explored all the Canadian support we could get.

Agriculture committee  Au Québec.

Agriculture committee  In the long term Canadian regulations should adjust to OIE rules in 2014. Why 2014? Because it is the date on which we found the last cow here, plus 11 years. In Quebec Levinoff-Colbex has analyzed the construction of a co-generation plant. It would cost some $50 million to buil

Agriculture committee  I would like to make a few comments on the rate of effectiveness or work of companies. In eastern Canada there is only one large slaughterhouse left, the Levinoff-Colbex slaughterhouse. Last year 94% of the cull cows in Quebec were slaughtered there, along with a large percentag

Agriculture committee  In Quebec, 94% of cows were slaughtered at the main abattoir in Levinoff-Colbex, and the other 6% in smaller slaughterhouses in Quebec. There are approximately 20 such small slaughterhouses in Quebec. In other Canadian provinces there are some cull cow slaughterhouses under regio

Agriculture committee  I will attempt to answer as well. In Canada, we made regulatory choices to allow for open borders. We subscribed to these regulations, but always in the hope that we could achieve regulatory harmonization between the two countries. Earlier, Mr. Shipley referred to the fact that

Agriculture committee  Yes. A few years ago, a study was published in the United States. It showed that the political choices made in Canada with respect to SRMs cost 10 times the amount that they did in the United States, which made different choices. Having a long list, as we call it in the industr

Agriculture committee  I would like to add a few words to Mr. Lemieux's comments. I have been participating in Canadian round table discussions for a few years now. The issue of SRM regulations was raised during a round table on beef. The industry agreed to opening the borders. It's very important

Agriculture committee  Ideally, this would be retroactive to the date that the regulations came into effect. However, I think that we need to be reasonable. The regulations were implemented in July 2007. Damage to the industry began in July 2007. Ideally, this would be the solution. In our discussions

Agriculture committee  Exactly.

Agriculture committee  I would like to thank the committee for inviting us to express our concerns. My name is Michel Dessureault. I am accompanied by Mr. Philip Cola, Director General of Levinoff-Colbex. I am the Chairman of the Fédération des producteurs de bovins du Québec, which is the main shareho

Agriculture committee  I don't know whether there are problems in the hog industry, but I am well acquainted with the interprovincial trade issue. In Quebec, we want to seek assurances, in our discussions with the Canadian government, that what is laid out in our collective marketing rules will be reco

Agriculture committee  Yes, we do support the free flow of goods, as long as it occurs based on the rules in effect in Quebec, and not minimal rules. The current rules are the reason for the strength of our collective marketing system. Everything relies on that marketing system, which we have to preser

Agriculture committee  The 14,300 producers in Quebec are making a contribution of $53.86 per cull cow that is marketed in Quebec, in order to inject $30 million into the slaughter facility. So, there are 14,300 owners.

Agriculture committee  No. The only benefit for the producer is the assurance of having a good market price, in order to remain competitive. During the BSE crisis, when we were in a monopoly situation in Quebec, producers received $100 for their cull cows. That was the situation we were in when we beg