Thank you, Ms. Nassif.
Thank you to the witnesses.
I'd like to follow up on what Mr. McLellan started talking about.
Like you, I was a farmer. I ran a dairy farm for 40 years, and I was a grain producer. Emotional distress was an issue in the setting I worked in. That's the reason I'm here: I want to protect Canadian farmers.
Today's topic is public trust in Canadian farmers, but how can we show farmers that we have confidence in them?
Consultations on agriculture and farming are held regularly, but the numbers are alarming. Consider this: only 50 years ago, Quebec was home to 50,000 farms, and today, just 28,000 remain. In Canada, the number of farms has gone from 110,000 to less than 100,000. Farmers are under a lot of stress. Money, the weather, herd health, regulatory requirements and public trust all play a role.
I'd like you to elaborate a bit further on what you started saying earlier.