Thank you for your question. Through you, Mr. Chair, I would challenge. I think the soup and salad bowl is the largest in the Holland Marsh in York—Simcoe.
This is a needed piece of legislation. First of all, it's going to encourage more growth in the agriculture sector. Just the very nature of having this protection.... I'll let the committee understand this. One of the first things that happened to me during COVID in York—Simcoe was right when COVID hit. I was out in the riding in the Holland Marsh one day, and I had a farmer come up to me and say, “Scot, I don't think I'm going to plant my field.” I said, “Ken, why is that?” He said, “I'm so worried about getting paid. I don't know what's going to happen to these big companies, these big distributors.” That was all unknown to us.
He said, “I can sit at home and basically pay the taxes on my farm and not plant and, if I do plant, it's going to cost me $2 million. Scot, if I don't get paid, I'm going to lose this third-generation farm. I'm not here looking for a handout from the government. I'm just looking for assurances that I'm going to get paid for my produce.”
That's why this legislation is so important for people like Ken and obviously for people who were affected by Leamington, which was a $183-million bankruptcy, I believe.