Thanks, Chair.
I'm happy to move amendment G-5. Again, it's quite lengthy, so I'm not going to read it. What I will do is just try to explain it in plain English.
This amendment is basically talking about how the crown can recover amounts owed to it under the program. The amendment actually clarifies provisions pertaining to a limitation period. There's a limitation period, and this adds more legislative precision regarding the minister's ability to manage default files. It's primarily dealing with default situations.
To give you an example, the amendment clarifies that there's a six-year limitation in place, and the amendment clarifies that the six-year limitation period restarts upon the producer's acknowledgement of the debt, and describes what constitutes an acknowledgement. In other words, there's a default situation that occurs, and that could start the clock ticking on six years. However, if some point after that the farmer or the producer acknowledges they have a debt—there are certain provisions which form what that means “to acknowledge”, and that is contained in here as well—then the clock starts again, so the first six years won't expire when he acknowledges it at the three-year mark, for example.
These provisions are consistent with other statutes, and in fact the wording here has been drawn from the Canada Student Loans Act, so it's something that's been seen before.