Statement~ September 23rd, 2003

Mr. Paul Steckle (Huron-Bruce, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, to my colleague from the riding of Perth-Middlesex, let me say that he shares a riding boundary with me so I understand quite clearly the predicament that some of his constituents find themselves in. This is an industry which has somehow not been given compensation because of the fact that these animals are live. They are usually springing heifers as he has said but they are now calving in his ownership and of course he has to milk these heifers. He has no quota to sell that milk and therefore he is paying to ship the milk but is not getting any remuneration for the milk shipped.

It is a double whammy for this gentleman. I know that there are contracts on heifers into Mexico, into various parts of the United States and even into South America which cannot be honoured because of the fact that they are live cattle. We must open borders to live cattle to effectively be able to help this gentleman. Certainly the method which he alluded to is not an alternative we can look to, but we need to look at open borders.