Thank you very much, Mr. Chair; and thank you to our witnesses for being here. We certainly appreciate your insights.
Rick, I want to start with you. You talked about some of the issues facing your industry. I was reading this morning that food security is a number one priority for Canadians. As we talk about the ability and the issues in our supply chain, it's quite timely. To hear that you're having to euthanize animals for a number of reasons, I find it quite disconcerting, and with the 180,000 hogs backed up in eastern Canada that's making things even worse.
When we obviously have some issues and weak links within our supply chain, now does not seem to be the time to throw further wrenches into that very fragile process.
You mentioned the trucking mandates, and now that the Prime Minister is talking about bringing in interprovincial trucking mandates as well, was the Pork Council consulted on the trucking mandates that were instituted a month ago; have you been consulted on interprovincial trucking mandates; and what would be the impact on the industry if those mandates were to indeed be implemented?