Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I have a quick question to ask, but before that, I would like to come back to Francis' comment and Mr. Poissant's answer.
Mr. Poissant, congratulations on being appointed parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food. It's true that the code of ethics contains special provisions because, following your appointment, you become a public office holder. So there must be special and extraordinary provisions owing to the fact that you are an elected official.
Francis talked about the chief of staff, who is also a public office holder, but is not elected.
So I am asking Mr. Drouin to check whether the standards are the same. For our part, we don't believe that they are necessarily the same. A chief of staff is someone a cabinet decides to hire, an employee. They are not an elected official. There are extraordinary provisions because an elected official with agricultural holdings cannot be discriminated against.
So I ask that you look into that and, if you want, send us the information later, as I want to use my time to ask another question that really affects me.
This is for the department representatives.
Two or three weeks ago, I talked about an important agricultural niche market we are currently hearing a lot about—maple syrup production. The Gagné report indicates that there is a problem in Quebec. The Americans are increasing their production significantly. According to the Gagné report, the Americans are being subsidized to increase their number of maple tree taps. We are not doing that because we are complying with free trade laws.
There are a number of ways to subsidize maple syrup producers. It can be done directly or indirectly. The government can fund the roads leading to the sugar bush or a power line. It can fund a number of things without providing direct subsidies.
I asked the department representatives to check whether it was true that the Farm Bill allowed for direct or indirect subsidies for the production of maple syrup in the United States and, if so, if that was in compliance with NAFTA rules.