Agriculture committee  I just have one last quick question for Oxfam. What would be the impacts...? You were talking about famine in other countries like Somalia. Are you anticipating social unrest? Maybe Mr. Putin is trying to initiate conflicts in other parts of the world as a result of what's going on in Ukraine.

Agriculture committee  Thanks, Mr. Chair. Certainly, we apologize for the technical issues with our witnesses, but it's important that we have them here and take advantage of that opportunity, as I know they're very busy with what's happening on the ground. I'll start with Ms. Zaburanna, the member of the parliament of Ukraine.

Agriculture committee  Thank you very much for that update. What would be the impact? I'm assuming it's very similar to your planting season in October. I know that's a long ways away and hard to predict, but are you already doing some forecasting on what that may look like if this continues in the way that it is now?

Agriculture committee  I do have questions for Mr. Vauthier, who's on the phone, so can we just wait two seconds, or I can try to be agile here, but....

Agriculture committee  Thank you You just mentioned rail and highways as well. It's my understanding—and I want some clarification from you, Minister on this—that the rail system, and in many cases Soviet-era rail systems, are not compatible with the rail systems of some of the countries around you, such as Poland and Romania, which causes a real problem with your supply chain, especially with the blockade in Odessa.

Agriculture committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think I speak for all of us that it's an incredible honour, Minister, for you to take the time to be with us, certainly considering the immensely stressful war that you're trying to deal with. I think it's critically important that Canada stand with Ukraine, certainly for most of us who represent western Canada.

Agriculture committee  Thanks, Ms. Brocklebank. I appreciate that. We've had a chance to talk about the Guardians of the Grasslands documentary in the past as well. It provides some really good information. One of the things I found, looking at that documentary, was that there was an experiment gone wrong when you removed cattle, as an example.

Agriculture committee  Thanks. I appreciate that. I may have time for one last question. With the new negotiations on CAP, certainly I hope there's going to be a focus on research and innovation. What key areas of research and extension do you think the Beef Cattle Research Council would like to see focused on moving forward?

Agriculture committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Welcome to our interns. I hope you're getting something out of this today. I want to start with Ms. Brocklebank and Mr. Bergen. Thanks very much for being here today. You were talking about some of the innovation and technology that the cattle industry is undertaking.

Agriculture committee  Yes, I appreciate that, Mr. Morel. I'm sorry, but I have only a limited amount of time. Is CFIA taking some steps now, seeing as some producers are waiting up to two weeks for CFIA to come on farm to do the depopulation? Are there some concrete steps being taken to address that situation?

Agriculture committee  Thanks. Mr. Samson, my next question is for you. I've been speaking with potato producers in P.E.I. They've now been told that the disaster funding they received as a result of the export ban is now going to be considered income and could have a pretty profound impact on their AgriStability.

Agriculture committee  Thanks. I'll turn it over to Mr. Epp.

Agriculture committee  Thanks, Mr. Chair. I may split my time with my colleagues here. I'll see how fast I can get through. This is for the CFIA. The avian influenza certainly is a huge issue for chicken producers across the country. In Alberta, we've had some producers who've been waiting for up to two weeks for CFIA to come on farm to depopulate.

Agriculture committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have just two quick questions and then I'm going to pass it off to my colleague Mr. Epp. Minister, more than a year ago Health Canada said that gene editing and CRISPR technology were safe, but you wanted to do a reassessment. When is that gene editing framework going to be announced?

Agriculture committee  We now have many farmers who are saying that their income taxes are being withheld from being processed as a result of Bill C-8, the carbon tax rebate, so they're not getting their income taxes done. Now the PBO has said the carbon tax is not revenue-neutral, doesn't reduce emissions and contributes to inflation.