Thank you for being here, Mr. Minister. I appreciate it.
It was a big celebration day for farmers, for rural people out in my province of Saskatchewan, particularly the homegrown biofuels producers. It was a great boost for us, and a real milestone day.
I'd like your comment particularly on the comparison, I guess, of these renewable fuels initiatives. How does this compare with the previous government and the Liberal record?
What I like is that for my province of Saskatchewan and the moneys that may in fact be available as people come forward, Iogen may be one of those in terms of that $500 million fund for renewables. Some $1.5 billion over seven years was major good news for the province of Saskatchewan and for rural communities all across the country, of course. As we commercialize for the next generation, I do commend you for that.
I would appreciate a quick comment with respect to the whole Canadian biofuels strategy. If you have any, please provide estimates in terms of numbers of jobs as well. Growing bushels of grain may not be your area of expertise, so I'll maybe go to the Minister of Agriculture on that, but do you have any sense of that? To me, it's huge in terms of my backyard, Saskatchewan.
I would appreciate your comment in respect of how that compares with the previous government, particularly on the Liberal record with respect to biofuels initiatives.