Thank you, Ian.
The CWB board of directors is made up of both government-appointed directors, such as Ian, and farmer-elected directors like me. All of us were kept fully apprised of the state of the contingency fund and how the producer payment options were being managed. We approved the CWB's audited financial statements. We decided how the contingency fund should be repopulated. We brought in Gibson Capital to review how we fared in 2007-08, and we are satisfied that the improvements we've made will enable us to do better in the future. We're firmly committed to communicating openly on this issue with all of our stakeholders, including producers and the Government of Canada.
We have provided several letters to the minister's office wherein we have explained what happened in 2007-08 and how we've responded to the events. We have also attempted to meet with the minister. We believe meeting the minister is a very important step so that we can get a better understanding of any ongoing concerns the minister or his officials may have.
I would also like to note in closing that we have provided the members of the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food with a background document that deals with a number of statements made by witnesses who have preceded us in recent weeks. We hope that in conjunction with our testimony today, this will give the committee a thorough picture of how the CWB enables western Canadian grain producers to better compete in the marketplace.
Thank you. We welcome questions.