Yes, Mr. Chair.
The fact of the matter isn't the Wheat Board argument, for all the witnesses and for your information. I think western farmers sent a message to the Government of Canada and us in the last Wheat Board director elections, where 80% of the directors were pro-Wheat Board. They can come forward with as many of these messages as they like.
I have two questions. Our research and development is extremely important, and I think a number of you mentioned that. One of the problems with the current system is with matching funds from industry. A lot of the research is basically targeted at how quickly you can get profits back to your shareholders and investors. As a result, because of the lack of public research dollars we are losing the kind of discovery research we used to have that canola came out of, and so on. I'd like your comments on that.
We're talking about competitiveness at these hearings, but I think one of the key questions is what are we competing against? Our major competition is clearly the United States. Does it come down to the U.S. Farm Bill and how they structure their farm policy? For a long time they had a policy of using cheap raw material, grains, as feedstock for their hog and their cattle industry and their ethanol industry. They virtually subsidized at that level, which brought profits throughout the sector further up the line.
What are your thoughts on that as well?