Agriculture committee  Thank you very much for that question. I'm very familiar with the farms you mentioned as well. I enjoy Southbrook wine a lot. The organic standard is the key to maintaining our ability to protect organic farmers from imports that don't meet the same standard. As we are reviewing it currently, we have received funding from the government and we're very grateful for that as a sector, but we need supports in place to ensure that the support to review and maintain the standard is ongoing.

Agriculture committee  Thank you for that question. My French isn't good enough for me to answer you in French. I apologize. My sound cut out a bit during the question. Yes, we're asking for it to be decentralized, but it needs to be nationalized. We need centres across the country. As we all know—this isn't something that I need to explain to anybody, I'm sure—we all have different conditions on our farms across the country.

Agriculture committee  Thank you very much. It's always a pleasure to speak with you, Tim, and I look forward to having some more chats on the deck or at the kitchen table. I probably don't need to remind all of you just how precious class 1 and 2 farmland is in our country. Less than half of a per cent of our total land mass fits into that category, and more than 50% of it is in southern Ontario.

Agriculture committee  The CFRA would actually enable us to implement all of the things that we see are necessary under the sustainable agriculture strategy. Darrin Qualman is the NFU's representative at the sustainable agriculture strategy table, and he's representing us very well. As you're looking at that sustainable agriculture strategy, I would encourage you to not water it down.

Agriculture committee  Thank you very much. You've touched on a really important point. I saw the notice that the report had hit my inbox, but I haven't had a chance to look at it. I'll just talk for a minute about a specific example. On my farm, in the peak of our season, we employ roughly 150 people, and 45 of those individuals come from overseas.

Agriculture committee  Thank you very much for the question. I want to say thank you again for taking the time to study this issue. A Canadian farm resilience agency would be a comprehensive way of supporting farmers' resilience. I appreciate that you recognize that farmers are very independent. We don't want handouts and we don't want to be dependent on Ottawa to give us what we need; however, we need programs, systems and regulations that support our ability to do what we do best, which is grow food.

Agriculture committee  Thank you. It's one sentence.

Agriculture committee  A viable, resilient horticulture sector is a critical component of Canada's food system, and if we don't support it, we erode our sovereignty as a nation.

Agriculture committee  Thank you. I am a farmer and a mother of the next generation of farmers. Founded in 1981, our family farm has grown to approximately 700 acres of organic vegetables. The third generation on this land, my sons and nephews, have chosen to make their careers in farming food in the family business.