Senator Simons: When you speak about depopulation and decontamination, those are expensive processes for the farmers who not only lose their livestock but have to pay for the cost of cleaning and decontaminating their facilities. Can you tell us what support the federal government is providing to farmers who are affected by this?

Hon. Paula Simons: Honourable senators, my question is for the Government Representative in the Senate.

It’s a question about avian influenza, which I don’t think is a topic we have discussed here before. Alberta is in the midst of an avian influenza outbreak, with 24 farms affected to date and 900,000 — almost 1 million — birds having been destroyed. The hardest hit, primarily, have been turkey producers and hatching-egg producers.

Can the government representative tell us what the CFIA is doing to track and contain avian flu outbreaks, which I believe are happening in Alberta, Ontario and Quebec right now?