Thank you, Mr. Chair. I thank all the witnesses for coming here today. I have heard them a few times before at the agriculture committee and the trade committee, and it's great to see them back.
My first question deals with the SM5. I was quite involved with the negotiations in Geneva the last couple of times, and SM5 was well represented there. They did a great job for us, keeping us supplied with information. As they know, it's hard to find allies around the world table for us. Most of the time we're doing our best just to defend our system, and I think we have to get more allies out there.
Eastern Europe and Africa are slowly increasing their food production, and I think over the next ten years they might be self-sustaining in their food production. I think supply management would be a good fit in these developing regions. So I guess my question is this. Is there any way the government or the SM5 can work together so that maybe we can change from defending our position more to promoting our position out there, so that in the future we would have more allies around the table?
That would be my first question, Mr. Chair.