A couple of things have come up a number of times concerning what the gentlemen have been saying. They've talked about critical mass and the voluntary system and that we need some government intervention to help out. In this case--the Canadian Wheat Board--the government intervention is not helping out. It is hindering us.
Earlier you asked about the Ontario experience and my thoughts on that one. Yes, when Ontario first went to the voluntary system they did go down to a 13% market share, but they've been coming up steadily ever since. The latest figures now show that they are at a solid 30% and growing. The reason they are growing is that they are now providing good services to their producers.
The key point is not only market share. Look at the acreage. The acreage in Ontario continues to increase, which means the producers are very confident in the system the way it is. They look at this and they say, “This is a good way of doing business. We're making more money. If we're making more money, we're going to do more of the same.” And that's what we're seeing in Ontario. And that's what we've seen in the west when it comes to the pork boards. The idea that if you allow producers the individual choice, they will never, ever market their crops or their animals or their products collectively is disingenuous. Of course they do.
I'm also a pork producer, and I work cooperatively with a whole bunch of producers in Manitoba. In Manitoba we have probably a half dozen such organizations that are all successfully marketing hogs on a voluntary basis. It works to the benefit of all the producers, because you have that competition between those different groups. They want to maximize their return to their producers and they want to be able to try to bring other producers in from other places and grow the industry organically, from itself.
Go ahead.
