Thank you for the offer, Mr. Chair. I have my own line of questioning, so I'll pursue that.
Minister, I wanted to ask you a few questions about food safety. Just to round out what the report also said in addition to the recommendations, the expert panel of course recognizes that Canada has one of the best food safety systems in the world. It also notes that E. coli infections have been declining over the past decade, which I think is important, because Canada's population has been increasing. When I think of this in terms of Canada having a population of 34 million, we might be talking about 80 million meals prepared each and every day here in Canada. Yet, the incidence of E. coli contamination is decreasing. I think it's important to provide that information, because it's the same expert panel that's making those comments as well.
I do want to ask about resources for food safety, particularly with respect to inspectors and with respect to finances. I bring it up because it's oftentimes a criticism of the opposition—I think a misdirected criticism—about the number of resources CFIA has with which to conduct its important work.
Minister, could you share with the committee, with respect to front-line food inspectors and funding, what types of initiatives the government has done over these past seven years.