Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, witnesses.
I'm sort of one of the foreigners in the group here. I'm from Ontario. I've farmed all my life. I was in dairy and cash crops. I have three children who are not farming. They have chosen different careers, not that farming was bad.
I'm interested in the comments that have come about here. Will we have more farmers or fewer farmers? How do we get them in? Recognizing some of the things that have come out here, I'm so impressed as we look to the future of agriculture.
I'd like a comment. When I was growing up, and when many of us were in agriculture not that many years ago, we grew a crop for food. We raised an animal for food, whether it was pork or beef or whatever. Now when I'm talking to some of the young people in my area, I see their optimism. They talk about the diversification within agriculture such that we're now looking at growing canola not just for the oil or the feed. We were just down at a feedlot today that has that sort of vision for the future.
I'm wondering, in terms of the positive part of agriculture--because I think there is an incredible opportunity in agriculture--whether that is something that each of you would see as being important for the success and the sustainability of young farmers.
I also want to mention to Rodney, and to Jason particularly, that I just had a motion, M-460, that came forward to deal exactly with the regulatory issues around cropping inputs--management input products, as they're called--with regard to the licensing and the lack of ability.... We did not get quite the support of all of Parliament that I wanted, but we got enough to move that through. When we were talking about competitiveness in agriculture, it was a common thread, one of those issues that has come down through all the discussions, as it did today. If we can get the playing field to be a lot more level, then some of those issues about getting the cheque in the mailbox will not be nearly as important. I'm not sure how we can get agriculture firing on all eight cylinders at once. If you can tell me that, you will be a genius.
That is always one of the issues. It seems to me that over the years, for generations, there has always been a part of an agricultural sector, pretty much outside of supply management, that fires on different cylinders at different times. One should never ever think that supply management is a ticket to making money. It's like every other business: one-third does well, one-third does okay, and one-third doesn't. It's about management.
I'll move on to my first question. I am also wondering whether you see the regulatory system as being important. If you do, I encourage you right now, as I'm moving forward with the ministers and the bureaucracy in the staging and the prioritizing and in getting the support for users across Canada, to write to me. I'll give you my card afterwards.
Can I just get a comment, in terms of the view...?