Mr. Chairman, perhaps I could briefly address an issue that runs through the report. It's an apparent conflict between companies and farmers. We feel it is important to directly address this particular issue because there appears to be an underlying premise that there is a conflict between farmers and grain companies.
In our view, this is very concerning and an observation we take very seriously. It is a fundamental fact that the profitability of grain companies is directly tied to the viability of Canadian farmers. We recognize that the consultant did not invent this sentiment and that it is an accurate feeling of some producers who participated in the consultation process.
One of the sources of this belief is the feeling that there is inadequate competition between the various grain companies. However, objective measures of the competitiveness within Canadian grain handling paint a different picture, one of an industry which is competitively driving down farmers' costs. For example, the Quorum Corporation, the independent impartial grain monitor charged with measuring how savings are passed on through farmers, has issued the following quote in its most recent report. I would like to read it in full:
...this result can partially be explained by the heightened degree of competition that has existed between the grain companies themselves, whether it be in terms of the deeper discounts they put forward in their bids to secure tendered grain movements or in the higher trucking premiums they have been willing to pay producers in order to draw grain into [the new] facilities.
We ask the committee and the Government of Canada to consider this objective evidence of competitive behaviour in bringing forward changes to the Canada Grain Act. We also recognize that additional work needs to be done to bring farmers and grain handlers together. COMPAS attempts to address this by recommending round table processes to enhance the ability of stakeholders to work well together and by creating an arm's-length farmers' ombudsman. We suggest that these recommendations would help alleviate the concerns, at least to a degree, that have been brought forward. Improvements to this area would be helpful and would assist you to bring forward reforms to the Canada Grain Act.
In closing, I would like to say that we believe the COMPAS report has provided the government and this committee with a path forward for reform. Some of these suggestions require only regulatory changes. We ask that they be brought forward very quickly. Some will require legislative changes, but we do ask you to move quickly on that as well. For example, we see no reason why legislation could not be brought forward before the next budgetary cycle. We look forward to working with you throughout that process.
Thank you very much.