Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, and thank you to all the witnesses for being here.
Set aside for a second the fact that this bill is an “Ottawa knows best” approach to a blanket solution to three very different provinces, which they are calling “the Prairies”, lumping everyone in together.
When the sponsor of the bill, Mr. Carr, was here at committee a while ago, he was asked if he consulted with any provincial governments or municipal governments before he put this bill forward.
My question is for the president of SARM, Mr. Orb. It's good to see you. Did you have any consultations with the federal government before this bill was brought forward to the committee and the House of Commons?