Thank you, Chair, and thank you to all three of the presenters.
You have given us so much material in those three very worthy presentations, I can only begin my remarks by saying that it's a sham and a travesty that we're limited to one two-hour session to entertain all the things you brought to the table. It's the first time many of these have been considered, at least by the members of Parliament studying this bill. Some fast-tracking going on here that is tantamount to sabotage. We never crafted the Canadian Wheat Board Act to protect and defend it against an enemy from within. We never thought we'd have to protect ourselves from our own government, or maybe it would have been crafted even more strongly.
Let me start with you, professor, and the comment you made about the instability and the uncertainty this is bringing. We're going to hear government members saying the reason we're fast-tracking this is to bring certainty and stability to the agricultural economy of the Prairies. If they were really concerned about stability in uncertain economic times, why would they turn the whole rural prairie economy upside down and on its head by abolishing the Canadian Wheat Board at this point?