Thank you. Madam Speaker, the European Commissioner, part of the European Parliament, is set up by the member countries. It is the administrator/management body that works and carries out some of the decisions made by the European Parliament. It is this commission that has asked its underlings to draft a report that would assess whether or not the regulations passed by the European Parliament are being met, what is the definition of "significant progress," and whether these middle-management staff can muster up some substantive arguments for saying certain countries, for instance Canada, has made significant progress, therefore, should be granted the additional year as laid out in the regulation. Again, we have questions about that, and some concerns I personally have, because some of the staff involved are known animal rights activists.

I am hoping that they carry out the work professionally, aside from their own very strong personal biases and follow the spirit and intent of the regulations, which would be very clear that Canada has made significant progress and should be allowed the additional one year to meet the remainder of the demands set out under the European regulations. Thank you.