Welcome, everyone.
I will call the meeting to order.
As you probably know, in this meeting, similar to the last one, we have only three panellists. We'll try to use the same general formula, and hopefully it will work. If we have extra time at the end, we'll divide it using the same formula as last time.
I welcome you to meeting number 19 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, 2020, the committee is resuming its study on processing capacity.
Today's meeting is taking place in a hybrid format, pursuant to the House order of January 25, 2021. Therefore, members are attending in person, in the room, and remotely, using the Zoom application. Proceedings will be made available via the House of Commons website. The website will always show the person speaking rather than the entirety of the committee.
I would like to take this opportunity to remind all participants in this meeting that screenshots or taking photos of your screen is not permitted.
To ensure the smooth running of the meeting, I would like to share some rules with you.
Members of Parliament and witnesses may speak in the official language of their choice. Interpretation services are available for this meeting. At the bottom of your screen, you can choose between the floor, or English or French. With the latest version of Zoom, you can now speak the language of your choice without having to choose the corresponding language channel.
You'll also notice that the platform's “raise your hand” function is now more easily accessible on the main toolbar, if you wish to speak or alert the chair. If this option does not work, I suggest that members and witnesses who wish to speak turn on their cameras and physically raise their hands.
When you do not have the floor, please mute your microphone.
Before welcoming our witnesses, I want to remind the committee that recommendations for the processing capacity report are due Friday, February 26, at 5:00 p.m., and they must be sent to the clerk.
With that, I'd like to welcome our witnesses for this afternoon.
From the Canadian Cattlemen's Association, we have Mr. Bob Lowe, president. Welcome, Mr. Lowe. Also, we have Mr. Dennis Laycraft, executive vice-president. Welcome, Mr. Laycraft.
From Novalait, we welcome Ms. Élise Gosselin, chief executive officer.
Welcome, Ms. Gosselin.
From Maple Leaf Foods Inc., we have Nadia B. Theodore, senior vice-president of global government and industry relations. Welcome to our committee, Madame Theodore.
We will start with opening statements by the witnesses. I will proceed in the order that I have in front of me.
From the Canadian Cattlemen's Association, whoever wants to take a floor...or you can split your time. You have up to seven and a half minutes to make your statement.
You can start. Thank you.