Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Johnson, it's an honour for me to have this opportunity to speak to you today. You have tremendous credibility in Quebec, and your record speaks for itself. It was reassuring to know you were acting as chief negotiator for the Government of Quebec. Since 2001, I have heard good things about you from industry representatives.
Mr. Johnson, I have gone into the field quite a bit. I'm from the riding of Mégantic—L'Érable, where the border mills are located. You referred to a recurring problem. On the one hand, people were concerned about the very survival of the industry and, on the other, they were saying that if it did survive, mills would have to retool on an urgent basis because of their unproductive equipment.
Mr. Johnson, I heard you say that continuing the litigation is probably not an option. It's easy for the opposition to say that this is not a good agreement, but there is the uncertainty. And this resolves that part of the problem.
You also talked about money being returned by Halloween, Christmas or after that. So, criticizing the current government for not providing loan guarantees is just forcing us to talk about a non-issue. This goes back to the question my colleague put to you earlier. I would also like to hear your comments in that regard, with respect to Quebec. Thank you.