Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to all our witnesses. We certainly appreciate your interventions and this opportunity to hear what you plan to be doing while we work our way through this particular study. As we recognized Bell Let's Talk Day, I know that it was a year ago that I was honoured to first introduce this request for a study to deal with the mental health issues among farmers, ranchers and producers.
As a farmer myself, I can say this is certainly something we have seen in our communities. I'm pleased that we've had this important discussion. I thank all of the witnesses who have come forward to contribute to this report.
As was mentioned, I'm also pleased to hear that you're looking forward to hearing from this study and from all of its different aspects. These are so important, because sometimes not everything is presented. I'm sure your organizations will read through all of the testimony and understand all of the different things that have affected farmers and ranchers particularly.
I'd also like to specifically thank the amazing women farm operators who have been such strong advocates for mental health within the rural communities, as well as in their family farm operations. I think this was probably what instigated this in my mind—to know how committed these different groups were and just to make sure that things were working well in their communities.
Of course, the 4-H pledge is the head to clearer thinking, the heart to greater loyalty, the hands to larger service and, of course, the health to better living. That is for themselves and their club and, of course, for their nation. These are critical points. As a former 4-H'er, I'm so honoured that you've taken on this particular task.
In terms of the concerns that I do have, we had anticipated that some of these initiatives would come forth after our report and we had had a chance to discuss some of these issues. I think now we can simply take the commitment that all three organizations have and move forward with it and to try to give you the best facts we have. We can't lose sight of the fact that agriculture is being attacked in many different ways. There was the comment that we need to talk about food nutrition and so on. However, for many of these farm groups, we see food nutrition being compromised by some of the outside actors who are trying to take on Canadian farmers and minimize their relevance.
As a beef producer, I understand that. I certainly feel that we need to be sure to keep in mind how we will react to anti-farm activists, the social media trolls who demonize our agriculture industry, and the specific things that matter to a farm—the carbon taxes in the tens of thousands of dollars per farm, the massive red-tape hurdles, and the aggressive CRA tactics that have demonized small business owners and farmers particularly. We have to make sure that all of that is brought into the discussion. Every one of the kids in 4-H that we've spoken about hear this every day. They're not going to be hearing government messages; they're going to be hearing the messages that come around the kitchen table. They see the effects of it on their parents.
I think one of the major concerns you had, Ms. Smith, was how that affects the young person as well. Those effects arise because of what is happening in the community and what is happening around the kitchen table. I'm wondering if you can address how we will be able to use what we have seen in the study, in all of the testimony, and if in your mandate you'll be looking at ways to integrate that so that we can also find a way to push back and put some pressure on those groups that are out there simply to demonize agriculture.