Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to all of the witnesses for being here.
Mr. Lawford and Ms. Hill, I'll start with you. In a recent submission to the Competition Bureau's retail grocery market study, the Public Interest Advocacy Centre highlighted the negative effects that so-called “restrictive covenants” may have on competition in the sector. I think you touched on that in your remarks.
As Mr. Anthony Durocher, deputy commissioner of the competition promotion branch of the bureau, explained, supermarkets sometimes place these covenants in real estate lease agreements to prevent other food retailers from using the same store location in the future.
Can you explain to us what effect these restrictive covenants have on competition in the food retail sector and maybe what you think we should do about them?