Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Gentlemen, thank you for being with us this afternoon.
I've quite enjoyed the week. I have learned a lot about cooperatives that I certainly didn't know before. I certainly knew about housing cooperatives, and credit unions a little bit, but I didn't know about.... I'm learning a lot and I'm really appreciating it.
There's one thing I am finding difficult to understand, and maybe from each of your perspectives you can explain it. We certainly have had some cooperatives making deputations today that they certainly don't view themselves as being traditional businesses. And we've heard from others, I would suggest to you, that are really no different from what I would consider to be a regular.... I was in the private sector for 20-plus years before I became a member of Parliament, in private-sector companies that were driven by lots of private-sector motives versus what the motives of cooperatives often are around social enterprise, and so on. But how do you identify yourself?
Certainly, Mr. Marshall, you talked about “competition”. To me, that's a private business. That's what we deal with. We compete, and if we're the best, we're going to get the customers. So how would you say your two organizations compare with traditional business versus how you are obviously uniquely different in what you are doing?
Did you want to start, Mr. Marshall? Then Mr. Rockel and Mr. Astner can answer.