Yes, thank you, Chair. Thank you to all of the witnesses for appearing today. It's really great to see all of you again on this platform.
The theme of my questions will be resiliency: how we build resiliency into the system. I think all of our witnesses have elaborated upon and described the weaknesses in our system, and I'm really interested, not only in how we deal with those in the short term, but really also in what kinds of things we have to put in place for the longer term so that we'll be better able to withstand shocks in the future.
I'll start with Food and Beverage Canada. I'd really like to thank you, first of all, for mentioning our workers. I think it's really important to illustrate the job they're doing on behalf of Canadians and the dangers they're exposing themselves to, and also their families when they go home. I think they really are the unsung heroes of what we're going through right now.
I also appreciate your comment that sometimes policy-makers don't have the expertise. However, when you look at the state of the industry in Canada and what this pandemic has thrust upon you, I really want to know, looking ahead to future shocks, what the answer is.
What kinds of things do we need to build into our system? Have our food processing centres become too centralized? Do we need to spread them out a bit more so that if one plant shuts down, others can take its place?
I'm just curious to hear any kind of innovative ideas that your association could suggest to this committee about how we can withstand shocks in the future.