Mr. Speaker, the Food Mail Program is probably long overdue for an overhaul and I think many Members in this House have recognized that. We’ve had some discussions over the years as to possible changes. Our desire was to see this review finally came to reality in the last couple of years. In 2008 there was a review through the federal government with an assignment with a number of consultants to do an evaluation and, more recently, there were further reviews that are ongoing that we are hoping will make the necessary changes.

At the request of the Members of this House, we did talk to INAC and they responded to our request that was posed for them to come and make a presentation to the Standing Committee on Priorities and Planning on September 21st . They did

come and do that and reported a number of the findings and recommendations that they are looking at.

At this point, Mr. Speaker, there are three scenarios, three options that they are reviewing and will be considering and making a decision on in the near future. The first one is the concept of using a point of sale system that would allow the retailer to discount the item based on the INAC subsidy level. The second option is the freight retail subsidy where the retailer would claim a subsidy for eligible food shipped to retail locations, and the third is a revised transportation subsidy and that would allow for a number of changes to the existing program such as modifying the eligible food, modifying entry points and adjusting the current subsidy rates and dealing with some of the shipping issues and rates. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.