Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Yes, I want to certainly thank Mr. Slade for his patience. His insight and testimony were excellent, as they were for all of our witnesses.
I would like to start with you, Mr. Bourgeois. You bring a really unique skill set to this committee.
I'm just curious. You didn't mention it in your testimony, but there has been a lot of discussion in terms of expanding the western livestock price insurance program to include eastern and Atlantic Canada, and that is obviously specifically for cattle and pork. Is this something that you have some knowledge of?
There are a couple of reasons why I think this is a program that would be a benefit if we were to nationalize this across Canada. It's a price insurance program, but it's also for new farmers who are getting into the pork or cattle industries. When you can go to your financial institution and tell them that you're backed by an insurance program, it's much easier for you to get loans to grow your business or get assets or even to start.
I'll ask for any insights from you on expanding the livestock price insurance program to Atlantic Canada as a business risk management program.