Thank you, Chair.
I want to thank everyone, and yes, this committee does work well together.
I tabled a notice of motion the other day and I hope everyone got it. I'd like to table that motion. It's about protecting farmland, and I think this is the perfect spot to do that.
Many of the members here are from Ontario. We know that in Ontario we're losing about 319 acres of farmland every day, and only about 5% of Ontario's land mass is suitable for agriculture.
My riding of Kitchener—Conestoga is at the heart of Ontario's agricultural land, and we're facing farmland loss right now. As Canada grows, we have to do things and do them while protecting prime agricultural land. I believe that all levels of government can collaborate in a non-partisan manner to preserve farmland for today and for future generations.
I am going to table this motion. It says:
That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), the committee undertake a study on the protection of prime agricultural areas for their long-term agricultural use; the use and/or development of agricultural land as defined by Canada Land Inventory for non-agricultural development; that no fewer than four meetings are set aside to hear from witnesses, that the committee report its findings to the House and that, pursuant to Standing Order 109, the government table a comprehensive response to the report.
In the interest of time, perhaps we can talk about the details of how many meetings and when that happens in the subcommittee, but I think it is important to table this now.