Mr. Speaker, I am disappointed once again. I thought that by allowing the member to go ahead we might get the answers to some of the questions we have been raising but we never got any such thing. We just heard another one of those speeches written by the bureaucrats in the backrooms. The member never got down to discussing some of the concerns being raised by farmers in my constituency and as the member knows, by farmers in her constituency as well.
I will outline what this debate is all about for the hundreds of thousands of people across the country who are wondering what we are talking about today. Most of the western MPs who are concerned about agriculture are debating the issue. The issue deals with the Canadian Wheat Board.
In agriculture the government has singled out the Canadian Wheat Board as a special area of concern. The government has been maintaining a lot more tighter control especially over the marketing of wheat and barley. It maintains this tight control through the Canadian Wheat Board. That is the essence of the debate we are having today.
Most people in Canada may not realize why the debate is important to the people of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. It is because they do not have the freedom to sell their grain, wheat and barley that the people in Ontario and Quebec have. They are being treated very differently. People need to understand the context of the debate.
Who am I representing? Why am I standing up to speak about the issue? It is because many, many people in my riding have come to me. I am their representative. It is my duty to analyse legislation the government puts forth in a certain area and to critique what the government has done and to suggest changes.
The biggest concern people have is the delay which is occurring in making some of the changes that will give farmers the tools they need to market effectively in today's world. Why is the delay a concern? The delay has been horrific. We are three and a half years into this government's mandate and it still has not made any changes. The people in my riding are very concerned about the weakness of a minister that would allow this kind of situation to develop.
The hon. member for Dauphin-Swan River mentioned that the government must be sure it is making the right changes and that there are huge divisions developing within the farming community. Why have those divisions developed? It is because of inaction and the frustration farmers have experienced. The minister has created those divisions and he is continuing to widen them by the ineffective legislation he is introducing in the House.
I do not know why the minister has not bothered to speak to this but farmers want an answer. They want to know why he continues to review the situation. In 1993-94, during the first year of this Parliament, we asked the minister to begin to make some of the changes. He gave us the standard answer: "I am reviewing the situation". He has been saying that for almost two years. Then he put a panel into place. Now he is going to study it even further.
Every delay tactic possible has been used not to make changes that would give farmers more control over the marketing of their products. Farmers on both sides of the debate no matter what their perspective is are asking for the same thing. They are asking for more control over the Canadian Wheat Board. I did a survey in my riding and the vast majority, 90 per cent of the people who replied, want the board to be controlled by farmers. Not by the bureaucrats and not by the politicians in Ottawa; they are much too slow to respond.
One of the biggest problems with the bill is that it reduces the possibility of future changes to the Canadian Wheat Board. It is entrenching and putting more power into the hands of the minister of agriculture rather than giving farmers more control over their own affairs. To the people across Canada who are listening, if you do not think this is an injustice, then what is? We need to have that and farmers are asking for it, no matter which side of the debate they are on with regard to the Canadian Wheat Board issue.
Some of my colleagues have pointed out some sections which are of a huge concern. An example is section 3.94 where the corporation will pay the bill for any one of its directors or officers who may make a mistake. The farmers will still be liable to pay the bills.
The wording of course is lawyer talk: "The corporation shall indemnify a present or former director, officer, employee of the corporation or a person who acts or acted at the request of the corporation" and it goes on to describe it. In other words, it removes accountability on the part of the people who are transact-
ing business on behalf of the farmer. It removes their responsibility. Why is that a concern?
We are all aware of what is happening on the west coast. Demurrage charges by the ships that are waiting in the harbours are being charged to farmers who have absolutely no control over the situation yet the farmers have to pay the bill. Now we have legislation which puts that into law with respect to the Canadian Wheat Board. It is absolutely wrong that farmers should have to pay the bills for things they have no control over. Why is the responsibility not put on those people who are causing the problem?
Farmers are coming to me every day saying that their transportation costs have gone up astronomically, especially since the government removed the Crow rate without any warning. They have appealed to me asking if there is something I can do.
The problem is that the people who are causing the problem are not accountable. They do not have to pay. It is entrenched in this legislation. It is a huge concern.
The government says it is implementing the recommendations of the panel. Again it is simply cherry picking. It is only picking those minute things which it feels it can do without lessening its power.
The essence of the problem farmers have is that they are battling big government. They are being held down. Their freedom is being limited by the minister and the bureaucrats in Ottawa. They are not being given more control over their own affairs. That is of real concern to them.
I noted some of the words the government used in the introductory speech that would sound good to farmers. For example, it said that the Canadian Wheat Board will be evaluated on its marketing success and performance or on its financial competence. Is there anything in the bill that allows an arm's length third party such as the auditor general to evaluate the performance of the board? Farmers do not even know what is happening. They have a very difficult time deciding whether the board is doing a good job.
The minister knows what is going on. No one can tell me that the minister does not know what farmers want. They want control over the Canadian Wheat Board. Why does it have to be controlled by the bureaucrats here in Ottawa? That question has not been answered.
If the minister set out to destroy the Canadian Wheat Board, he could not have done a better job of destroying it than he is doing right now with this delay and the way he is handling the situation. People on both sides of the debate are telling me that the minister of agriculture is destroying the Canadian Wheat Board. Farmers are frustrated. They are very concerned about what is happening.
If we are to have an effective marketing tool, we must begin to make some of the changes which Reformers have been asking for. This process does not facilitate that. Sending the bill to committee now is simply another delay tactic as far as I can see. I do not think the debate this morning will facilitate the changes which need to be made to the Canadian Wheat Board.