Agriculture committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Good afternoon, Mr.La Flèche. Thank you for being here in person. I don't speak French very well, so I will switch to English. I want to thank you for being here. We have some concerns about Metro's level of enthusiasm for the efforts our government is making to try to stabilize food prices.

Agriculture committee  I'm sorry to interrupt you, but I read the submission. I understand that you are committed to delivering the best value for customers. That's what all the chains say. Of course, you're competing. That's normal. It's business as usual, obviously, for a profit corporation like yours.

Agriculture committee  I'd love to hear, if you can find out from the people working on this in your company, some feedback on what's being done exactly and when you think it is. The other area I wanted to talk about was the price on pollution program. As you said, you're committed to a net-zero carbon target.

Agriculture committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Mr. Weston, for being here in person again. I appreciate it. There are so many questions I could ask you. One thing I want to talk about is the measures that our government is taking to address long-term issues in our country. These are things around, for example, the P2 plastics.

Agriculture committee  If you already have those kinds of relationships.... It may be that you believe you do, but it seems that most Canadians and many suppliers do not agree with this. Right now, when things are this difficult—many of my constituents are struggling in this holiday season in particular—it seems that you're not doing everything you could to address this problem.

Agriculture committee  Thank you, Mr. Gebara, for being here and for participating in this effort with our government. We know that it's taking everyone's efforts to try to tackle food price inflation. I wanted to talk about one thing you referenced and that the minister had also referenced, which was amending the Competition Act to strengthen the Competition Bureau's power.

Agriculture committee  Great. Thank you. In general, you said that one thing that you think would help would be more robust competition and a stronger Competition Bureau. In what ways do you think that would help bring down grocery prices?

Agriculture committee  Thank you. Yes, I agree with that. One of the issues we're facing in Canada, as my colleague has said, is the oligopoly power in the grocery sector. The grocery code of conduct would in fact address some of that. You also mentioned supply chain issues. One thing the grocery code of conduct would do is contribute to improving the strength and resilience of Canada's supply chain.

Agriculture committee  Thank you. I appreciate that. I just have one other question. Bill C-56 will increase competition or is asking the Competition Bureau to look at that. Do you think that those changes or having an increase in the power of the Competition Bureau will also help independent grocers?

Agriculture committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair, and our witnesses as well. There are a number of small independent grocers in my riding, and they add greatly to the community. They often provide different kinds of foods. They're really essential. They are grocers like Madani's, Greco's, Mellat, Frank's Organics and T&T.; There are a whole bunch of different grocers here.

Agriculture committee  Thank you very much for that suggestion. In line with some of the elements of the grocery code of conduct—that was something Minister Champagne also highlighted—is the imbalance between smaller producers and suppliers and, of course, the larger grocery chains. I know that right now, on the plan you put forward, there's concern about price reductions being passed down to manufacturers or producers.

Agriculture committee  Absolutely. I'm sorry to interject, but I have one last question.

Agriculture committee  You do, and that's great to see. You mentioned that you have respect for the suppliers and the farmers, which I greatly appreciate. We all do. I'm wondering, though, in terms of respect for the consumers.... As you say, prices have been high. We're trying to stabilize them and bring them down.

Agriculture committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Mr. Medline, for being here again and for your submission to the committee. You met with Minister François-Philippe Champagne and have co-operated with, and participated fully in, his efforts to help us address the rising cost of food and stabilize prices.

Agriculture committee  Thank you very much. I appreciate the work the government is doing to support farmers. I know we've had many here in committee before who've talked about our program and what it's doing. They're on the front line, as you said. I'm proud that we're supporting them as they're trying to make these changes, looking at things like substitutes for plastic bags, how to dry crops and grain and how to heat and cool barns as well.