Thank you, Mr. Chair. My first question is for Mr. Clarke. I'm going to tell him a story that will turn our interpreters' hair grey because it's a translation story.
When I entered the National Assembly, our Agriculture Minister always talked about a type of management. I always heard “egg management” and I thought he was talking about eggs. In fact, he had a Gaspé accent and he was talking about supply management. I'm happy to be with the person who is engaged in egg supply management because I can finally reconcile the reality with what I misheard when I entered the National Assembly.
But I pity the poor interpreter who had to render that one for you.
Mr. Clarke, you make an important point in your document about the fiscal advantage of the supply management system generally. I'd like you to elaborate a little bit on that, because I share your concern when I hear the rumblings from the Conservative government. It's taken about two years for people to start to realize that, oh my goodness, they're conservatives; they don't believe the government has a role to play in the economy. We do, and the NDP has long held that Canada's supply management system should be supported and maintained.
Can you tell us what your feeling is right now? And as we head into the next budget cycle with the government, what signals are you getting on the supply management scheme in Canada generally?