First I want to thank you for the question.
I want to echo the concerns we have not only for the farmers but for the officials who are supporting farmers in ensuring that we have safe workplaces. I want to underscore that everyone has the right to work in a safe and healthy workplace. That is one of the reasons we have put into place standards under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act to ensure that when workers and inspectors show up, they can feel confident that they're working in a healthy and secure place.
In a previous committee appearance last week, I expressed my profound concern when we heard of some of the outbreaks that have occurred. We need to be sure we're looking into the causes of those, but without in any way compromising the safety and security of those who are conducting those audits and inspections.
We will continue to work very closely with the provinces, which I'm sure my honourable colleague knows have the primary line of jurisdiction to ensure that occupational health and safety is being upheld on our farms and in our food and processing plants.