Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thanks to all the witnesses for being here today. We appreciate your testimony and your time.
I'm going to focus first on the Retail Council of Canada.
Mr. McLinton, I have a couple of questions for you.
I think that unfortunately we've heard a narrative for the past few weeks, mostly from the opposition party members—or some of the members there—that the grocery store shelves are empty and this is caused by the federal government's vaccine requirements for cross-border truckers. The Retail Council is quoted in an article published on February 16 as saying that “the council's grocery members have reported that 90 to 94 percent of products that are supposed to be on shelves are actually currently available.”
There still seem to be individuals in the opposition benches who are pushing this, I would say dangerous, narrative that Canadians are going to go hungry. Can you confirm the quote from the council, published just yesterday, about the high percentage of products still available on Canadian grocery store shelves?