Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Good afternoon, and— thank you for your testimony.
This is not the first time the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food has examined the issue of risk management, and it will undoubtedly not be the last. Whatever the case may be, it is always good to conduct an update, especially of the malfunctioning of the Canadian Agriculture Income Stabilization program. I think we around this table, and even in Parliament, agree that that program is far from being as effective as it could be.
We are starting to hear witnesses, but the fact remains that documents from a number of associations are telling us that one of the viable solutions for replacing the CAIS program would be to implement a self-management component for the first 15% of risk, as was the case for the NISA program. Here we're talking about a program by sector, including the livestock sector, managed by the producer. There are various criteria, of course. We're also talking about maintaining a program like the CAIS program to cover significant risks.
I'd like to know whether, with a view to replacing the present CAIS program, you at the Pork Council consider that that is one of the potentially promising solutions.