I want to thank you for coming on such short notice; it is not easy. We, too, would have preferred having more committee sessions between now and Christmas, but there was a Speech from the Throne, which is obviously an important event. There was also an economic statement and, in both cases, we were not very impressed given the space occupied by agriculture. Luckily, the Bloc Québécois's demands regarding the Throne Speech included the protection of supply management. This demand was met; that was the good news. However, we had not asked that the dismantling of the Canadian Wheat Board be discussed again. The government responded with one sentence, tacked onto the one about supply management, in which it indicated that it wanted to put its idea of a dual system for the Canadian Wheat Board back on the program.
As you indicated earlier, Mr. Friesen, the economic statement does not contain any measures to mitigate the crisis in the beef and pork sectors. Your press release following the Throne Speech indicated that you welcomed the support that was expressed for supply management, but that you had some reservations regarding the measures that could have been mentioned, including—and I think that this is an issue about which you care deeply—greater program flexibility. This issue also means a lot to us because, despite what some people may say, the opposition has done a very remarkable job on the committee report tabled last June. Unfortunately a minority report was prepared by the government party. I think that the entire committee produced a remarkable report; I do not want to insult anyone. A lot of space was allotted to the flexibility these programs should have.
However, I would like to hear what you have to say about the government's response, a response that it gave despite our tour, despite the quasi-consensus on program flexibility and despite the very clear report on the flexibility that programs for the provinces were supposed to have. We are talking about the Growing Forward strategic framework, which provides for some flexibility.
Are you optimistic about what you will find in this strategic framework regarding the flexibility about which you care so deeply and speak about quite often?