I'd like to thank all the witnesses for having accepted our invitation to appear on a Friday afternoon. We're very grateful to them.
My question is for you, Mr. Groleau. I'd like to thank you for your statement and would like to draw your attention to the fact that the committee heard from Ms. Citeau of the Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance. In response to one of my questions, she told us that it was very important to understand that the problems with CETA had nothing to do with the wording of the agreement itself, but what rather with, "the reluctance of the European Union to comply with commitments and to eliminate barriers". She then explained what these barriers were. I'd like to hear your comments on this.
We also heard from Mr. Gobeil of the Producteurs de lait du Québec. I asked him for suggestions about how we could work closely with Quebec's dairy producers, and he told me:
We need to help producers and processors find new opportunities in value-added markets. It could be in animal production, dog and cat food for example. There is also the baby formula market. It's important to find value-added Canadian markets.
I spoke about this with Minister Bibeau. She explained to me that we had large-scale processors here in Canada, which makes it difficult for smaller companies in the market. As an expert in this field, do you have any suggestions?