Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I sincerely thank all of the witnesses for being here today.
For our part, we understand that the situation is urgent and requires a rapid resolution.
In short, Mr. Vossen, you said you received the notice from China on March 1 indicating that exports to that country were closed. On March 5, the official opposition asked that an emergency meeting be held about this. We learned that on March 26 the Viterra company was also affected by the situation. We saw from the beginning that this crisis was going to severely affect the canola producers of Canada and we wanted to take steps as quickly as possible.
I also want to remind members of the committee that we asked that ministers come to testify here. Unfortunately, our Liberal colleagues' response was negative. I again want to remind everyone of the importance of beginning discussions at the highest possible level. The highest possible level for us means that the ministers should come before the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food to share the position of the government, of the cabinet, as to how they are going to deal with this affair. Press points alone do not answer members' questions and will not allow the parties to work together to solve this problem. Unfortunately the government seems to want to work alone and wait—too long—to resolve the situation. That is totally unacceptable, in my opinion.
I also want to underscore that for the second time in two days, we asked that an emergency debate be held in the House. Unfortunately, the Liberals used procedural means to prevent me from tabling the request for that emergency debate. It is important to give the floor to canola producers and their MPs so that they can speak to the urgency of this crisis, as you did this morning.
Once again, I thank you for being here with us today. I have two questions.
Mr. Vossen, you have already encountered similar restrictions in other countries, haven't you? Since you have been in this position—and I know it has been some time now—to your knowledge, has the quality of Canadian canola exported to other countries ever been called into question?