Agriculture committee  Yes, of course. If you can divide, you can conquer. In this case, what we see is that there is value-added development and it does operate through the structures of the Canadian Wheat Board. We could only speculate whether there would be more or less without the board, but we do know there is value-added with the board.

Agriculture committee  Are you asking either one of us? In terms of the ports and the potential impact of removing the Canadian Wheat Board, I think, again, that one of the things we have to keep in mind is that as traders--and we are traders--we need to get the maximum return for our producers. In terms of where and how we will market if we don't have the Canadian Wheat Board doing the marketing, I suspect that it will be where those markets are, and if that means a north-south corridor, it could have huge impact.

Agriculture committee  That is absolutely not true.

Agriculture committee  As for the ability to ever reconstruct, the Canadian Wheat Board has gone through a number of transitions. It has changed often and continues to evolve to meet the needs of producers. There is nothing in NAFTA or the WTO to prevent a re-establishment. But here's the problem: if the Wheat Board were eliminated, and then some time down the road the federal government decided to re-establish it, all the companies that managed to scoop up the board grains and market them would sue the federal government under NAFTA for damages and lost income.

Agriculture committee  Well, that's the way I see the world. Anyway, the point is that it would make marketing and branding very difficult, and I am told it would be difficult as well because one of the key elements is that when you have the Canadian brand and it's shipped through our singular system, it would be very hard to keep differentiated in the marketplace and get the gains that we get because we are able to differentiate in the marketplace.

Agriculture committee  Clearly, in terms of value-added, if we're looking at the feed component, farmers can market the feed component where they want to. If it's value-added through feedlot development, they can market there. You have to understand that one of the vital parts of the duty and the responsibility of the board is try to make sure they're getting the best return they can for the producers.

Agriculture committee  Thank you. One of the things I have to say clearly is that if there were a clear, straightforward, honest question about the Canadian Wheat Board--do you want single-desk selling of the Canadian Wheat Board or not?--and 67% of the people in my province or the western Canadian farmers said they didn't, I would live with that, and I would work with the department and the agricultural organizations to try to build the best system we could possibly have that would maximize returns to producers, that would be progressive, and that would allow us to build a strong agricultural future.

Agriculture committee  I was very serious. I want to make sure that the producers are elected, as they have been in the past, and that people are appointed to the board for particular expertise that will help the board fulfill its function of maximizing return to producers.

Agriculture committee  I'm glad you raised that question, because I'd like to clear the air. We try to help farmers in a variety of ways. One of the ways is to offer them space for meetings. Our staff is very accommodating, and occasionally they'll run faxes for people. The cost on that would be roughly $15.

Agriculture committee  David, we have a democratic structure here that is legally constituted. There is nothing wrong with having a legally constituted structure, and within that structure there are all kinds of freedoms. Farmers have choice. They can deliver feed wheat anywhere they want, feed barley anywhere they want.

Agriculture committee  They may not have been involved in the writing of it. They facilitated by providing some facts.

Agriculture committee  No, you don't.

Agriculture committee  It was put together by the folks from Real Voice for Choice. They may have had some assistance from people who are involved in Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food, and I'm proud of them if they did help them out. Is there a problem with our people, who are there to help farmers, helping farmers?

Agriculture committee  We are being very clear with people about what we are doing and why we are doing it. We have not hedged in any way. I have not equivocated at all on this issue, nor has my government, nor has the department. Thank you.

Agriculture committee  You don't know that. In fact, you may not be representing 75% of your producers in your particular area, according to what some of the farmers in your area tell me.