Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister, for being here.
I want to start by thanking you for taking my private member's bill on eliminating the efficiencies defence. The Competition Bureau hasn't intervened yet, but I promise not to have it intervene. It's great to see that we have some good ideas for competition in this bill.
Minister, I want to start with something you said on September 19 in the House of Commons. You said, “One thing that was clear yesterday with the major grocery chains from across the country is that we must not allow any measure to affect our farmers, the small and medium-sized businesses across the country that contribute to the food chain.”
We talk about competition. We talk about all the elements that add costs up the chain, and this bill is called the affordable housing and grocery act. We have taxes on our farmers, on our manufacturers, on our truckers and on our storage facilities, cold storage specifically, that get added to all the food bills and then get added, of course, to the grocery bill.
Minister, do you agree with a tax freeze on the Canadian food supply chain, yes or no?