Thank you very much, Chair.
Thank you very much to all three of you for appearing before the committee today. I hail from Vancouver Island, so within my riding we have the Cowichan, Malahat, Lyackson, Halalt, Ditidaht and Pacheedaht. There are many different nations and many different cultures even within that small space.
You're so right, that when you're talking about indigenous.... The word “agriculture” means so many different things. It's such a diverse group when we talk about first nations. I'm thinking of the Cowichan, in particular. There's evidence that they used to manage the Cowichan River by building weirs to manage the fish stock. Salmon is a central tenet of their culture and their food, whether it's the coho, the chum, or the chinook. There is also evidence of carefully managed clam beds as well. They have a saying, “When the tide goes out, the table is set.” This subject has the potential to veer into other departments, like the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, when we're talking about managing a food resource.
I really appreciate your comments on indigenous food sovereignty and some of the recommendations you have for the development of a food policy for Canada. As was already mentioned by some of my colleagues, we don't have to rely just on your testimony today. You're very welcome to submit a brief with further details that explain some of the things you'd like to see, and we'd welcome seeing that.
I do have to apologize, though, because I have limited opportunities to speak at this committee, being the sole New Democrat.
Mr. Chair, at this moment I want to use my time to move a motion.
Committee members will have received my notice of motion. It was given last year, and it specifically pertained to undertaking a study on the commercialization of unpasteurized milk in Canada. I wanted the study to include witnesses regarding the current consumption of the milk, how other jurisdictions regulate the sale, and that we report our findings back to the House of Commons.
I can make some opening comments once that's been passed around.