Thank you, gentlemen and ladies, for coming today and taking time from your busy schedules to be with us.
The issue of supply management has been on everyone's radar. Ron, you've raised it unequivocally. In the last couple of weeks we've seen a lot of editorials precipitated by people in the restaurant industry, which frankly I find troublesome. We've looked at competitiveness for years here in the one area where farmers aren't receiving their incomes from cheques in the mail from the government to their mailboxes: the supply-managed industry. You're right, Ron: other countries such as the United States highly subsidize their farmers, well beyond what Canadians have ever done.
I go to the farmers' market in Guelph at least twice a month, sometimes more when I can get there on Saturday mornings. People from all socio-economic backgrounds are there. They are not complaining about the price of cheese, eggs, or milk. A hell of a lot more restaurants are opening there right now than there are people getting into the farming industry. So we're behind you, and you need to know we're behind you. You can comment on that, any of you: Mark, Ron, or Phil.
One of the issues that has arisen is the difficulty that young farmers have in getting into the industry because of the price of quota, which seems to rise. I'm wondering if any of you have thought how that might be addressed so we can encourage young farmers to get into the industry in some fashion.