Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, madam, gentlemen, for being with us today.
My first question goes to Mr. Woods. In your presentation, one phrase caught my attention right away. You said that supply management should be a focus of domestic policy development under the market development trade pillar. I am quoting your phrase as I heard it. You have nothing to fear, Mr. Woods, since the government says that it will defend supply management. I don't see what you're worried about.
You understand that I am being a bit ironic.
No matter which government is in power, we just have to look at what happened in Cancun in 2003, for example, during the WTO negotiations. A preliminary document was made public, in which the government said that it was ready to make concessions on the supply management system.
More recently, the Minister of International Trade, Mr. Emerson, in a long interview that he gave to the Western Producer newspaper, said that supply management was slowing down current negotiations at the WTO. Even though he came to this committee afterwards to try and explain his statements, the fact remains that we are a little worried about supply management.
I would like you and Mr. Murray, who is a dairy producer, to respond to the allegation that supply management is slowing down current negotiations. We know that other countries in the world attack supply management and the Canadian Wheat Board, but I'd like you to tell me what you think about it.