That is what I understood. All right.
First, I congratulate you on your election, well, your appointment to the position of Chairman. I am sure that you will be able to continue in the same vein as your predecessor.
Regarding my motion, I call on my colleagues to support it, of course. I think it is important to present my proposal in the form of a motion. Indeed, during the holidays, I was reading The Western Producer, and to my great surprise, I saw that the Minister of International Trade, who is responsible for negotiations with the World Trade Organization, the WTO, was holding forth there. Of course, the Minister of Agriculture and AGri-food also participates, but it is the Minister of International Trade who is sort of our standard bearer for international trade and agriculture.
We know the extent to which some of the countries participating in the negotiations attack every aspect of the supply management system. The same holds true for the Canadian Wheat Board. Now, in the article in The Western Producer of December 21, last, Mr. Emerson was saying that the days of supply management are numbered. We are not talking about a simple quote, a single phrase where he might have blurted out something about supply management perhaps not being the best idea in the world and that changes had to be made; we are talking about a whole article in which Mr. Emerson, the Minister of International Trade, is delivering that message.
So, it’s very disturbing. In any case, I think it would be irresponsible on our part not to invite the Minister to appear before the committee to answer our questions, even though we all know that the day after or a few days after the publication of that article, a press release circulated in which Messrs. Strahl and Emerson said they support supply management.
That entire interview is still very disturbing, and I would like to know more. I am also persuaded that agricultural producers of Quebec who are subject to supply management, and the others elsewhere in Canada, would be very interested in Minister Emerson’s evidence here before our committee. I think that we should make it a priority.