Agriculture committee  A successful—

Agriculture committee  Reasonable profitability is an important part of operating a successful business. I think that $1 out of $25 of sales is reasonable profitability. It's worth mentioning that big numbers in large enterprises like ours.... Let's say our profit was in and around $1.9 billion last year, a very big number.

Agriculture committee  We understand that 95% of Canadians are concerned about food prices, but grocery chain profits are not the reason for food inflation and, as I mentioned—

Agriculture committee  A company needs some degree of profit—

Agriculture committee  We do publish our financial statements as I mentioned, on a quarterly basis, and they are fully audited by an external auditor. That includes our statements publicly when we release our results where it's our responsibility to explain in our documentation and in our analyst calls exactly what has driven the financial performance of the business.

Agriculture committee  I think the Competition Bureau is studying this. I don't know who requested it. As I mentioned in my answer to the prior question, we have provided all of that appropriate information, so hopefully the output of that study will satisfy the committee. But let me take it away, and look and see.

Agriculture committee  There's maybe just one other thing I would say. If we are asked to disclose the origins of our financial results at that level of detail, then I would urge us to ask all others to do the same, whether it's Walmart, Costco or anybody else. Thank you.

Agriculture committee  We're very cognizant of the cost of food prices and their impact on Canadians all across the country. I see it. I hear it regularly when I'm in stores talking to customers. I would call into question the analysis that you reference. We look at our numbers very closely all the time.

Agriculture committee  We have already submitted our financial statements to the Competition Bureau. These are competitively sensitive pieces of data. It's important that the Competition Bureau can see them and they can understand them. They can ask us follow-up questions, but we would be resistant to disclosing that type of sensitive information on a public basis.

Agriculture committee  We're active participants in the development of the code of conduct. Let me just add that a healthy supplier community and a healthy grower community are absolutely vital to our industry. We work hard every day to support local producers. There are concerned producers. There are also those who write to me to say that our business has been transformational in terms of expanding their access to new markets and new products that are being sold all across the country.

Agriculture committee  We're certainly committed to developing an effective code that's fair and balanced on all sides.

Agriculture committee  Bonjour, and thank you, Chair and committee. I appreciate the opportunity to sit before you today. The world is in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis. For 18 months, this has affected just about everything. Global food prices have risen quickly, putting significant strain on Canadian families in terms of both their finances and their overall health.