I'm going to start with a few comments in French.
Mr. Chairman, I want to thank you for the opportunity to make a presentation to the subcommittee. My name is Marcel Hacault, the Executive Director of the Canadian Agricultural Safety Association. I was somewhat surprised when I was asked to make a presentation before this subcommittee, but after hearing the presentation by Rick and James, I think the purpose is to examine the issue of food safety from a more comprehensive standpoint. That's why we are making this presentation today.
It is our basic assertion that a safe farm produces safe food, and that farmers must be provided with the tools to do so.
It is the vision CASA, the Canadian Agricultural Safety Association, to have a Canada where no one is hurt farming, and our mission is to make the agricultural sector a safe place to live and work by helping farmers see and manage the risk in their workplace. Although a majority of our funding is from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, it's our partners and our safety leads in all the provinces that allow us to change behaviours and to work with farmers to improve the safety on their farms for their families and for their workers.
Dean.