Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you, witnesses, for your excellent testimony.
I'd like to begin with Ms. Dickson Olmstead. You referenced in your testimony the creation of a grocery code of conduct for a fair and equitable process down the line.
On March 8, a large retailer sent the following letter to a food processor in my riding. I'm just going to read the one relevant paragraph. Note that this was from three weeks before the potential CP lockout or strike. It says that in the event that a CP labour dispute causes service interruptions, it's the retailer's expectation that freight will continue to be delivered on time to service its stores and its customers. The letter also says there will also be no exemptions from fining due to late POs as a result of any rail issues.
This letter was written by a retailer, I'm told, that has an extensive history of using fining with its suppliers. Would a voluntary, non-regulatory code of conduct influence the existence of threatening letters such as this, or would there be no effect at all?