Thank you, Chair.
Welcome to the committee, Minister.
If you look back over the last number of years, especially since the pandemic in 2020 and over this period of instability, you see that many corporate sectors involved in the food supply chain, whether it's oil and gas or fertilizer or the grocery companies, have seen record profits. Many of the high prices that Canadians are paying for food these days have gone a long way to padding corporate bank accounts.
Canadians would look at the graph you just held up, Minister, and I think they would still see a failure. You may show a trend line in decreasing inflation, but the fact is that Canadians are still paying higher prices for food, and many families are at a breaking point. I guess the question many have in their mind is this: With all of the powers that you command as a minister, why is your plan still failing after all this time?