Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thanks very much to the witnesses for coming here today.
Truth in labelling, which is really what this is all about in a roundabout way, is something I've personally being involved in fighting for, I guess you could say, through local farm organizations for years.
Mr. Chairman, everyone here--the committee anyway--has heard me talk about the proverbial jug of grapefruit juice, which seems to have no problem in this country being labelled “Product of Canada”. But Mr. Loney is talking about a product here that comes from Canada, is grown in Canada, and is packaged in Canada, and he's having a hell of a time getting it through. It just shows that one of the reasons this committee is reviewing this is that it's long overdue. I know the minister is reviewing this right now, and he knows there's a problem. Finally, we're getting some action on this after years.
Ms. Cruikshank, you made a statement that this is not about food safety; it's about country of origin. Would you agree that the consumers today are more educated? I find that there's definitely a move out there. People want to know where their food is coming from. It isn't just that. I get people--and I'm talking about people from the urban parts of my riding--phoning me up. They read the papers, and they know the problems in agriculture. Not very long ago it was in the grains and oilseeds, and right now it's in the livestock sector. They say they want to be able to do their part to support agriculture. They say that if I tell them where our food comes from, they'll spend the little extra to buy that. I guess, in a way, I'm disagreeing a little bit with your statement.
Do you want to enlarge on that or agree or disagree with me?