Agriculture committee  Sure. We talk to hundreds of farmers in Alberta. We're trying to set the table to allow farmers to participate in an offset program, whereby they can get offset payments through the Alberta government offset program. We don't have any projects under way, although we have an announcement with Capital Power Corporation, and we're hopeful that this project will get under way this year.

Agriculture committee  I think five years is fine, but certainly the delays in approval or even rejection of projects is difficult. I would like to see the department move to a more iterative process in which it is more open in its discussion with applicants about what they would like to do. I think they would get better projects approved, and it would be less frustrating for applicants.

Agriculture committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair and members of Parliament. My name is Clyde Graham. I'm the senior vice-president of the Canadian Fertilizer Institute. CFI is a not-for-profit association. We represent manufacturers, wholesalers, importers, and retail distributors of nitrogen, phosphate, potash, and sulphur fertilizers.

Agriculture committee  Thank you, madam. Agro-100 is one of 46 different companies that operate in Canada at various levels in communities and on a national and international basis. We don't know because it's going to be up to individual companies to try to take advantage of the opportunity of exploring the market in Europe.

Agriculture committee  International trade is increasingly a team approach between government and the private sector. Certainly trying to gain market access is a struggle in certain areas, and the more we can work together to help other countries and their markets understand what we have to offer in Canada is a tremendous value.

Agriculture committee  That's our presentation. We wanted to leave more time for questions.

Agriculture committee  Our industry is largely an agricultural industry. Our members are primarily focused on providing farmers with the fertilizer they need, but we have strong links with the urban fertilizer industry, companies like Scotts and Sure-Gro, which provide fertilizer to homeowners. It is a small part of the total market in overall terms, but fertilizer is very important in our cities and towns to maintain proper green spaces.

Agriculture committee  In terms of the commodities that drive fertilizer prices, the grains and oilseeds complexes—corn, soybeans, wheat, rice, and canola—are the major commodities in Canada. Certainly it has been a difficult time for livestock producers, but the markets are being driven primarily by the demand for grains and oilseeds.

Agriculture committee  I'm not as familiar with the U.S. system as ours, but one of the concerns in the United States is that their system as its being developed—and it's a very fluid situation down there, with the Congress and what's being proposed—would increase the price of fuels such as natural gas, which would flow to energy intensive industries.

Agriculture committee  I would go back to the statement put forward by the Canola Council. The Canola Council is one of the most science-based organizations out there, and canola farmers are part of the Canola Council. They've looked at the fertilizer prices as well, and they're saying that at today's prices for canola it makes sense to fertilize to the recommended rates in terms of their net profit.

Agriculture committee  I think one of the issues you're talking about is early action. That's an issue that was addressed in “Turning the Corner” and will probably have to be addressed in a cap and trade system. At this point in the regulatory regimes we have seen, we would not get adequate compensation for the early action our industry has taken.

Agriculture committee  One thing you have to remember is that there is no “you guys”. The fertilizer industry, in terms of our member companies, is made up of 43 companies that operate in Canada, plus there are many other smaller companies that are important players in the market as well. Everybody in the market, because it is a free market, operates and makes their own decisions.

Agriculture committee  I want to go back and relate to the pipeline statement that Mr. Miller made and Wayne alluded to about production shutdowns. Part of the reason that companies were forced to shut down, not only in Canada but in many parts of the world, is that farmers were not coming forward with their orders.

Agriculture committee  It would vary, depending on the commodity. I think probably the bigger reductions would have been in potash.

Agriculture committee  What happened this winter was that because of the meltdown in the markets last year, there was a lot of uncertainty in the marketplace in North America. And as well, there were a lot of inventories in place that had been purchased--