Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Zolinsky, Mr. Meddings, and Ms. Laing, thank you for coming here today. We've had and continue to have very interesting presentations from regional development agencies across the country.
As I'm sure you were informed, we're in a pre-budget process, and I think it's no secret that one of the things we're trying to get a handle on is how people see growth and innovation emerging from all of the regions of Canada, and how we best leverage our strengths and, in fact, create new strengths across the country.
Your presentation gave us a very interesting overview of the Saskatchewan economy. Certainly, I think it's fair to say Saskatchewan has been on a bit of a run over the past decade or so, largely driven by high commodity prices. However, not unlike Alberta and some other energy-producing provinces, such as Newfoundland and Labrador, it's not immune to these kinds of shocks. I know that potash prices have been lagging somewhat, based on competitor activity around the world, among other things, and food is one of those very volatile and obviously also cyclical things.
To start, where do you see diversification coming into the Saskatchewan economy? Where do you intend to place your emphasis in terms of programming dollars and in terms of your planning and strategy? How do we squeeze more growth out of an economy that, by your own description, is highly exposed to the vagaries of commodity pricing?