Thank you, Mr. Chair.
To follow up on what Mr. Easter asked you, like him and I suspect all other members of the committee—and I dare say all members of Parliament—I am receiving emails from beef and pork producers. Such as they exist in my small urban/rural riding, I've heard from, I dare say, all of them. I say this with no disrespect, Mr. Marsland, intended towards you, but these folks want some immediate and some concrete answers. Discussion is continuing, and that's nice. Industry is engaged—okay. An action plan has been struck—all right. But those sound rather futuristic, or “at some point in the future”. We've heard presentations by cattle producers and hog producers, and we've heard—no sarcasm intended—that cash by Christmas is what's required.
You've talked about “interim advance” potential, and “targeted advance” potential. You'll surely know that the Canadian Cattlemen's Association is requesting, à la 2004, a special advance, and I presume you're familiar with the formula they have.
I want to have, if I may, not a yes or no answer, but a cogent, tight answer as to whether these producers can expect a special advance, and if so, how it will be calculated and when it might actually be received by them.