Agriculture committee  Mr. Easter, the question is not that easy. I'm chairing an economic development task force for the area to help the municipal governments and the county governments find a way forward into the future. That's what the minister has tasked me with. I expect that my economic task force will finish its work this summer, and the solution and plan forward will come from that.

Agriculture committee  Mr. Easter, these are my friends and neighbours too. Of course not; this is a parallel process that has to happen. We have to do all of this. Contraband has been mentioned here today too. It's at least three prongs going forward: it's economic development; it's contraband; it's an overall solution for the producers.

Agriculture committee  Mr. Chair, could I speak to that? You've just seen the patch-in with Linda, and I know that Fred is the same way. Mr. Atamanenko, you said someone needs to take the bull by the horns, and I have no doubt who is doing it. I don't even have to look at my call display sometimes to know who's calling.

Agriculture committee  They are a huge part. Yes.

Agriculture committee  It's going well. I'm very pleased with how well the mayors have come together on this. The answer is that I'm just facilitating this; the real work is being done on the ground by the municipalities and the counties. They recognize the economic distress that's going to be there.

Agriculture committee  To answer your question, and as we've spoken in the House and at other times, the comprehensive way forward is about all of these things. You mentioned the U.S. strategy, and that had a very heavy manufacturing component to it. The manufacturers really came to the table and, over a 10-year period, worked with the producers in their case.

Agriculture committee  Yes, my friends and neighbours are having some difficulties, I'll put it that way.

Agriculture committee  As you mentioned, the tobacco adjustment assistance program in its entirety wasn't enough. It was a step forward and it accomplished a little bit, but it wasn't the whole answer. It's going to take a far more comprehensive way forward, and it's going to take more than one party acting on it.

Agriculture committee  Thank you very much, Chair. I would like to thank you for inviting me today, and I'm happy to be here with such a good group on this same subject. Having met with many of you before, and certainly having spoken with many of the members of the committee on this issue, either in the House or in private, I am honoured that the minister has given me the task of moving forward the economic development piece in the five-county area of southern Ontario that grows tobacco.