Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thanks for being here today.
I'm sorry I was a bit late. I'm dealing with a bit of an issue in my riding today. I hope I'm not asking something that someone covered before I arrived.
During the past couple of weeks the committee travelled across the country doing hearings. I participated in the eastern swing last week. One of the issues that we often hear about is how we can help our farmers become more competitive internationally, how we can cover some costs--we, meaning Canada--for our farmers to help them in that regard.
For example, one suggestion that came up at different times was that the cost for things like the CFIA, rather than being on a cost-recovery basis that the producer pays for, might be the kind of cost that, if paid for by the government, would make our farmers more competitive, and it would not precipitate trade challenges to Canada that we were somehow subsidizing farmers. I appreciate that it's a public policy issue.
That being said, you would be familiar, I would think, with your counterparts in other countries. I'm curious, from your experience with our trading partners, the United States and European countries, in terms of the kind of work that you do, how are your counterparts in those countries paid? How are those costs paid? Are they covered by the farmers or are they covered in another way?