Thank you very much for the opening remarks.
I am very interested, Mr. Mount, in the union's concept of creating some solutions so that the price of farmland is not a constraint to succession or to young farmers buying into this as a business.
What are the barriers? What is the range of barriers that you're addressing with your program? How, if at all, do you see the capital gains changes that apply to the farming sector being addressed in the structure that you set up?
I also wanted to reinforce my admiration for taking this tack, so that other pro-social values, like tackling climate change, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and having sustainability and ecological initiatives, are not huge barriers to the effective transition of farms, given the price of farmland. I know you'll be giving your answers in writing, but I wanted to put those questions to you and to congratulate you on the initiatives that your organization, the union, is putting in place.
I'm also interested in your comments and Mr. Nelson's comments on a question I have about farming and intergenerational transition, and how it differs, if it does, from other entrepreneur's family-owned businesses that produce valuable goods and services for fellow Canadians or internationally. They are businesses that were built by families, by early family members, including the kinds of capital that might not be land. It might be land, where the operations are based, but other investments have been made in capital.
How is that different from, or is it different from, this situation? If there was an exclusion of farmers from these capital gains changes, what would be the rationale for that, while not including other family-owned businesses that also have a succession plan for the young generation to take over the family business?
I'm going to ask Mr. Mount to give me his response in writing, of course, but I'm also interested in Mr. Nelson's view. What's special about family farms compared with family businesses that also require some thought with respect to transition?