Mr. Chairman, I would like to answer the first question concerning the fact that we are here to support Bill C-33. We have the same concerns as farmers. Not only are they our clients, they are our biofuel suppliers as well. We believe that we must strive for maximum harmonization, so that distribution and production costs remain as competitive as possible, along with consumer costs. What I mean by this is that we need harmonization of standards and biofuels on a national level. Federal government leadership which this bills hints at is one of the main reasons why we are here today.
Regarding your second question, let's just say that I represent an association of downstream petroleum companies. The CPPI represents oil refinery operators and distributors, as well as marketers. As a matter of policy, we do not support subsidies. In our presentation, we made it clear that as a result of recent policies, only one transfer of funds was made to boost biofuel production, in contrast to the measures taken in the United States, for example. Consequently, the lack of comparable arrangements will make the job much more difficult in future.