Thank you, Chair.
I'd like to thank our guests for attending this morning.
Ms. Marsden, I feel somewhat guilty. I take my coffee black, but my mum always had four sugars in hers. I was pleased to hear that sugar does not relate to obesity. It must be true, because my mother was about 90 pounds with her four sugars a day. So it must be true. That's a story for another time. It's history.
It's clear that I obviously feel a divergence of views on these issues between Ms. Marsden and Mr. Simpson. One of you—Mr. Simpson—clearly is promoting more active open markets. In fact I would call you a capitalist with a heart. That's how I would define you.
Ms. Marsden, with respect to your industry, obviously you have some deep concerns about the preservation of Canadian sugar. What's clear to me is that your focus is on the United States, and quite appropriately so, because of the amount of business that goes between...or could potentially go. Could you elaborate a little bit on your dialogue with the United States thus far? You said you just came back from Washington. That's an important issue relating to this committee, because the notion of protectionism in the United States is a big concern to us as well. So could you just elaborate for a moment as to some of the dialogue you've had with your American counterparts, perhaps as recently as yesterday, just to give us a better sense of how the discussion has flowed?