I call the meeting to order. Welcome, everyone.
As you all know, we had to cut our meeting in half for very important votes in the House, so I'll be very quick and stick to the time.
Welcome to the 10th meeting of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food. Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) and the motion adopted by the committee on October 24, the committee is resuming its study on processing capacity.
The number of witness panels has been reduced to one today due to the votes. Bonduelle Americas and Northern Natural Processing LP will be rescheduled for another meeting.
Today's meeting is in hybrid format, pursuant to the motion adopted by the House on September 23, 2020. The proceedings will be available on the House of Commons website. As a reminder, the webcast will always show the person speaking, rather than the entirety of the committee.
To ensure an orderly meeting, I would like to outline a few rules to follow. Members and witnesses may speak in the official language of their choice. You have the choice, at the bottom of your screen, of either floor, English or French. Before speaking, please wait until I recognize you by name. A reminder that all comments by members and witnesses should be addressed through the chair. Make sure your mic is on mute when you are not speaking.
With that, we are ready to begin.
I welcome our witnesses for this panel.
From Canola Council of Canada, we have Jim Everson, president. Mr. Chris Vervaet, from the Canadian Oilseed Processors Association, is also appearing in support of the Canola Council's testimony.
We also have Sylvie Cloutier, chief executive officer, and Dimitri Fraeys, vice-president, both of the Conseil de la transformation alimentaire du Québec.
We'll start with an opening statement from the Canola Council of Canada.
You have seven and a half minutes. Go ahead.