Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  To summarize all this, there are different types of cooperatives. In our case, the cooperative pays its members for their work, namely, the processing of milk that comes from farms and is delivered to the cooperative. When the cooperative has served all its customers, it shares

Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  Oui.

Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  It is in Lethbridge.

Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  I think that we live in a democratic country. In my humble opinion, cooperatives democratize the economy. I somewhat agree with you. I did not have the opportunity to respond to Mr. Lemieux's questions. Wealth is created by Canadians, the cooperatives that are in place and Canad

Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  I will be brief. There are always bankers who can loan money and investors that can come forward, but financial assistance is always welcome. Sometimes, the assistance asked of the government is used for start-up purposes in order to ensure that new companies and cooperatives hav

Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  Yes. It is all a matter of competitiveness. Regardless of the sector, the company must be competitive, whether we are talking about innovation or something else. In the past few years, Agropur was the only dairy company to invest several million dollars in a research and develop

Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  No.

Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  Basically, the purpose of the cooperative model is to meet members' demands. When cooperatives create wealth, they share it with their members.

Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  Agropur has not always been in such a good financial position as it is now. We exercised great discipline over the past few years. In order to be able to pay dividends to our members and in order for them to be in a position to give part to the cooperative, the company first has

Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  Currently, Agropur's only members are dairy farms.

Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  May I answer. That is constructive. This is not a criticism, but often, when we look at requests for financial assistance, be it for foreign companies that come to invest in Canada or in one of the provinces....

Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  Okay, the....

Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  I will answer quickly. That element of the questions should be properly identified. I will try to make sure we understand each other without giving you a specific example. Job creation is often one of the main criteria considered when it comes to providing financial assistance

Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  Of course, we do use traditional loans, bank loans, and so on.

Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  That was mostly the case in the beginning. Nevertheless, the most recent acquisition—in 2004—involved a western Canadian cooperative.