Thank you, Mr. Chair. I want to thank everyone who is a witness, and those who are in the room as well, who have fought this fight for a considerable length of time, which shows a lot of community support.
I would submit to you, Mr. Chair, that if this committee can't look at this issue objectively and save either all or some of the farms, then I really seriously feel that what we've seen is an affront to democracy. I think this is the people speaking up with the evidence that the government should reconsider and change its decision.
My first question is to Ron and Dave. I want to congratulate you--I've been on your operations--on the job you've been able to do. Mr. MacKenzie, at the last meeting, in questioning the timing of this, said his understanding was that you're a year and a week and a half away from being closed.
Ron and Dave, I'm not criticizing him for making that statement. We're already seeing a phasing down, are we not? And if we hit June, these dairy herds are gone. Once gone, we cannot bring them back.