Agriculture Committee on June 15th, 2006

[The Chair, Conservative, Gerry Ritz]

Is there anyone else?

Give a very short response.

[Serge Lefebvre]

It is important to keep working as we have. Of course, there will always be sectors that develop and get interested in exporting. I think, however, that one of our first duties is to feed our own population. So we have decided to feed Canadians and not to export. We are asking the government to keep supporting the choice we have made to produce for Canadians, which enables our consumers to have access to quality products, produced here, by us.

[David Fuller]

Thank you. I only have a couple of points.

First, today it was raised that Canada is the fourth largest exporter in the world. I would like to remind the committee that we are the fifth largest importer of food in the world as well.

I do not believe there will eventually be free trade, because I am not naive enough to believe there will ever be countries that play completely by the rules, without paying any money, so that free trade will be able to happen. My concern is that free trade will never happen because there will always be little games being played by other countries, and it concerns me that our farmers will not be able to compete when we are not on a level playing field.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gerry Ritz]

Thank you, David, for the final word.

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much for your presentations here today.

We have a little housekeeping to look after at the end. If the witnesses would excuse themselves, we will continue with our housekeeping. Thanks again.

I thank the committee for their indulgence in allowing us to go a little over the time in order to get everybody in.

The first thing on the agenda, folks, is that we need a motion to pay some of our witnesses who came. We have a list of them, if you'd care to hear who is asking for operational budgets, and so on.

We have the Canadian Wheat Board's biofuels strategy and hopper car fleet.

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

Mr. Chair, in order to save time, I think you and the clerk can work that out. The witnesses should be paid.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gerry Ritz]

We need a motion from the floor to allow me to do this.

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

I so move.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gerry Ritz]

Okay, it's moved by Mr. Easter. Is there any discussion?

When we go past a certain margin for reimbursement of committee witnesses, David, we have to have a motion from the floor to allow that to happen. We're looking at a $13,000 expenditure here to reimburse some witnesses.

All right, I have to read them into the record, if you'll bear with me.

For the Canadian Wheat Board: “That the budget of the Committee in the amount of $13,300 for the briefing of the Canadian Wheat Board be adopted.” That's for the witnesses who came, not the board.

We also had witnesses here on the biofuel strategy, and the motion reads: “That the budget of the Committee in the amount of $6,900 for the study on Biofuel Strategy be adopted.”

The third is on the hopper car fleet, the hearings we've had to date on that. It reads: “That the budget of the Committee in the amount of $10,800 for the study on Hopper car fleet be adopted.”

Mr. Easter is moving the first one.

We have the second one on biofuel strategy, and we need another mover on that one.

Mr. Thibault so moves.

Would someone care to move the budget for the hopper car fleet hearings?

Mr. Steckle so moves.

Is there any discussion?

(Motions agreed to)

[The Chair, Conservative, Gerry Ritz]

Moving on, the discussions have been ongoing on our trip to Rothsay on Tuesday. The clerk and I will actually be attending the Liaison Committee at one o'clock today to present that budget of $2,500 and change.

Is there any discussion?

There's been some talk that we'll have extra room on the bus. I know someone talked about bringing staffers, and I know Mr. Atamanenko would like to bring his wife along. We checked that out, but unfortunately, even though there's room, the liability of the House of Commons doesn't allow us to do that. If there were a problem or something like that.... They're saying nobody other than designated staffers and MPs.

[An hon. member]

So staffers can go.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gerry Ritz]

No, only our committee support staff and translators, not your staff. We did check it out, but that's the ruling we got back.

Is there discussion?

Roger.

[Roger Valley, Liberal, Kenora, ON]

Is there any question about people like me attending? I'm not a permanent member.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gerry Ritz]

Well, we're open to lunch when we get there, or something, Roger, if you wanted to pick up the tab for that.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Chair, Conservative, Gerry Ritz]

There you go.

Mr. Anderson.

[David Anderson, Conservative, Cypress Hills—Grasslands, SK]

I assume we're limited to the numbers that we have assigned to the committee. So you can make a choice of who you want to go, but they would have to be--

[The Chair, Conservative, Gerry Ritz]

Right, and the percentage as well.

Mr. Bellavance.

[André Bellavance, Bloc, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

I missed a little bit of the conservation about our schedule, Mr. Chairman. However, as I indicated to you the other day, my party's whip tells me there may be votes in the House at 3 p.m. that day, the day we are supposed to leave.

When we discussed this, I had indicated that the whip wanted—at least, that is the message he asked me to give you—the members from the Bloc Québécois to be back in the House for the votes. If we travel until 6 p.m. as indicated in the message we received yesterday by email, I am afraid that we have a problem. I do not want to prevent the committee from travelling. It is just that my party's whip told me that he absolutely insisted that we be back for the votes. So I put it to you. Perhaps you got the same message?

[The Chair, Conservative, Gerry Ritz]

Okay, yes. We have the same message, André. We're covering this one crisis at a time. We'll try to get this past liaison, and if it doesn't pass, then we have no problem with the whips. If we do, we will then make a presentation to unanimously move the vote to 5:30, as opposed to right after question period. That would give us that window. I don't know if that's possible or not. We're saying it's an option.

So we'll work with the Liaison Committee. If the budget passes, then we still have to get past those great friends of ours, the whips. Okay? It's one step at a time. We'll keep you posted, so keep your BlackBerries on, ladies and gentlemen.

We have a third thing on the agenda. Mr. Easter has given us notice of motion; it'll be coming before us now.

Mr. Easter.

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

I'll just read the motion, Mr. Chair. It's pretty straightforward.

We heard the other day from a number of people in regard to the Canadian Wheat Board. I would put this motion forward:

That the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-food report to the House the following recommendation: That the government, prior to any legislative or regulatory action affecting the mandate of the Canadian Wheat Board as it is currently constituted under the Canada Wheat Board Act, submit through plebiscite to all those eligible to vote in Canadian Wheat Board elections a clear and direct question asking whether those eligible to vote support or oppose the single desk selling provisions of the Canadian Wheat Board.

I put that motion forward, Mr. Chair, because at the meeting the other day there seemed to be a reluctance to give producers a vote collectively on their overall future. Some believe the election results were just related to the Wheat Board, and I don't believe that to be true. I think farmers should have the right to decide their own future, especially on a piece of legislation that is in fact their marketing legislation. So I put it forward that way.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gerry Ritz]

Thank you, Mr. Easter.

Is there any discussion?

Mr. Bezan.

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake, MB]

I'd like to move that we table this motion. I really want a legal opinion on this through Parliament, through the library. I have a concern that we're asking for a plebiscite every time there's a legislative or regulatory change.

There are a lot of changes that the Wheat Board has brought into place through regulation, such as new products they've offered. If we start setting a precedent that there has to be a plebiscite for everything they want to do through regulation, I think there's a real issue here. Before we vote on this motion, we should have a legal opinion.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gerry Ritz]

We have a motion to table.

Is there any discussion on the motion, or a question?

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

I think the motion to table is immaterial at this time. The fact of the matter is that there are Wheat Board elections. Directors are elected.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gerry Ritz]

I take your point, Mr. Easter. But that motion is on the table.

There's a motion on the table to table the motion--that's sort of convoluted, isn't it?