Agriculture committee  Good afternoon. My name is Larry Hill and I'm the chairman of the Canadian Wheat Board's board of directors. I farm near Swift Current, Saskatchewan. As mentioned, Ian White is with me today. He's the CWB's chief executive officer. I'd like to thank the committee for inviting

Agriculture committee  Certainly I think it's very important that producers are on the board of directors, because for the Wheat Board to be successful, producers have to see they own it. It's important they feel their voices are being heard at the table. When it comes to experts, you don't get electe

Agriculture committee  We would welcome the Auditor General to review the report and our risk management. We said that right from the start. I'd like to make one thing clear about sharing this with producers: 10 of the people on the board of directors are producers, so all of our board of directors hav

Agriculture committee  We have the support of our board of directors on this report. What we want to do is meet with the minister and make sure there are issues that need to be delved into by the Auditor General. This will be an expensive process and we need to recognize that.

Agriculture committee  Yes, we have. If you didn't get a ballot last year, you didn't make any deliveries. That's how the election was set up. Anyone with an interest could apply and get a ballot whether you grew more grains or not. Anyone with an interest in the major grains could apply for a ballot.

Agriculture committee  American transportation costs are very different from those in Canada. If you're close to waterways in the U.S., the railways are very competitive. In fact, it can cost more money to ship grain to the Pacific northwest from Montana than it does further east in the eastern states.

Agriculture committee  Yes, that is correct. The railways are responsible for setting their freight rates within the revenue cap.

Agriculture committee  The Wheat Board has always looked at the process after an election. We also looked at the panel review that was done and their recommendations, and we agreed with a lot that was in the panel. We need a process whereby we work with the government and other farm groups to look at

Agriculture committee  Can I reply to the costing question?

Agriculture committee  Thank you. The transportation issue is a very significant one for farmers. It is one of the largest bills they have. Since the current revenue cap was established, many efficiencies have been implemented by the railways. So we commissioned a study by Edsforth. This study shows

Agriculture committee  Thank you, Ian. The CWB board of directors is made up of both government-appointed directors, such as Ian, and farmer-elected directors like me. All of us were kept fully apprised of the state of the contingency fund and how the producer payment options were being managed. We ap

Agriculture committee  Good morning, everyone. My name is Larry Hill. I farm near Swift Current, Saskatchewan, and I am chair of the Canadian Wheat Board's board of directors. With me here this morning is Ian White, the president and CEO. I'll have some opening comments and then I'll give the floor ov