Agriculture committee  I don't think there's any question that the Canadian Grain Commission provides an impartial service. We would agree with Brian Otto that the details of a contract are best left between the buyer and the seller. The role of the Canadian Grain Commission, if there is a dispute, is

Agriculture committee  I'll just say one quick word on transportation. As Neil indicated, there was quite a large study done by the town of Summerside a year ago to try to develop a concept plan for infrastructure in relation to harbours. They drew a blank in terms of the grain industry. The harbour

Agriculture committee  I'd just like to say that all those relationships work if you're living in Alberta where the slaughter plants are. You're going to have a different basis in every part of this country. So maybe at the end of the day, you're forcing the beef industry to choose. If they're advocati

Agriculture committee  Thank you.

Agriculture committee  Mr. Chairman, I can chime in on that one quickly. There are a number of examples of schools of expertise that have been offered in the past. One that comes to mind in Atlantic Canada is an international potato school. You take expertise and equipment to Russia and help develop t

Agriculture committee  You have a lineup to see who wants to start with that one.

Agriculture committee  The only way that could happen is if prices go into the tank and everything fails at once. When you're talking about international trade, maybe in an ideal world, the only way we're ever going to get a level playing field is if everybody withdraws their support, like New Zealand

Agriculture committee  Mr. Chairman?

Agriculture committee  I'd like to just make a quick comment on that. In Atlantic Canada, bad as it is, where father and son or father and daughter take a business plan approach and look at the thing on the whole farm, if the economic opportunity is there, the young people are coming in. Even with thi

Agriculture committee  You would need to consider the different structural differences in our grain industry. In milling wheat, for example, in Atlantic Canada, we store most of the commercially marketed milling wheat in one central facility. So we're in a position where we can test every load coming i

Agriculture committee  No, thanks for the opportunity. I have no direct comment on that.

Agriculture committee  That's an interesting question. The reference that you raise has to do with two particular programs that I'm aware of. One is in relation to DON, or deoxynivalenol, testing in milling wheat. For those of you who may not know, we grew our milling wheat industry up to 35,000 acres

Agriculture committee  I could make a comment on that.

Agriculture committee  I was just going to make a couple of comments. Certainly Atlantic Canada understands that there are national principles. A lot of people have talked about them: equity and fairness across provinces and in international trade. Just remember where we're coming from. We understan

Agriculture committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate the opportunity. We have a message here that we'll make available to you after we're done, if that's of any value. I'll read it for you and try to lay out the background.