Mr. Chair, it was great to go to the reception and meet the young people. It is important for the future that they see an opportunity in the industry to remain there. That is why I said earlier in my comments, when we strip it all away and get rid of all the complexities, how important it is to ensure that producers can be profitable. It is important that people see they can have an economic future for themselves and for their families so they will continue in the industry. It is important for themselves, yes, and important for their families and for their communities, but it is important for all of the country.
I will talk about the dates. I am not trying to avoid that. I am trying to cover all of the member's points. There have been intensive discussions in the last three days between officials of my department and of the provinces, including Alberta, to try to work out what the best date would be. Those meetings were still ongoing as of a couple of hours ago. My directions to officials, and I have said this to the minister from Alberta, is to find a way quickly to make this program work. In many respects I believe we need to be guided by those in the industry themselves. They are the ones whose knowledge and experience I would be counting on in order to provide advice as to what would be the most appropriate date. We are looking very closely at that and we will arrive at a conclusion that makes sense for the industry and for the viability of the program that we are putting in place.
Finally, as we say, the issue is holding them back and setting them aside. The issue of ownership during that process is something that was also part of those discussions, but the key point is keeping them out of the slaughter process, regardless of where the ownership may be at any one particular time.