Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you very much to the witnesses, who are here virtually and in person.
I'd like to begin by expressing my condolences to the people of this region. The member opposite has described the disruption and the distress caused by such a plant closure. As members of the agriculture committee, we're very supportive of our farmers and realize that a transition such as this is very difficult.
Thank you to the government officials for the work you do to try to make this transition easier.
The member opposite has been speaking about individual cases and temporary foreign workers. It's something we deal with in our office in a different way—on a constituency basis and often dealing with immigration.
I'd like to back up a bit to the bigger picture of what's happening here in Canada with the pork industry.
First, perhaps, to Mr. Forget, do you think this is a short-term issue because of the difficulties during the COVID pandemic and supply chain issues, or do you think we're seeing a transition in global demand, perhaps due to many issues but including a transition to plant-based food, welfare concerns and a shifting of consumer preferences? That, obviously, has implications for how we deal with this kind of closure.