Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to all of our witnesses. I'd like to echo my colleagues in expressing our collective sorrow at what's happened to the workers at this particular plant.
Mr. Beauchamp, I'd like to start with you.
I was reading a CTV news article from the middle of April in which both CEO Yanick Gervais and the head of the union, Martin Maurice, were both quoted. I think Mr. Gervais mentioned that this plant had been chosen because, among other things, it needed some serious upgrades, about $40 million in renovations. The head of the union, Martin Maurice, stated that this plant, in fact, was the most profitable, and he raised questions about the $150 million in public money that Olymel had received two years ago to help it become more competitive.
Just for our committee's understanding, you have the CEO mentioning that this plant needed about $40 million in renovations, and the head of the workers' union said that this plant was the most profitable and that your company had received a fairly large sum in public funds.
Was there any internal decision-making about how those funds could have been used to upgrade what the head of the union said was the most profitable of your plants?