Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I want to welcome the three witnesses and thank them for their excellent presentations. I have to say that I am unbiased on this question, and I see value in the three different ways of looking at the two points. I think there's value in all arguments.
I'm from an area that doesn't have any wheat, but it does have a lot of supply management, and my farmers are nervous. They understand the government is currently saying it's not attacking supply management and is committed to it. But they also know that in 1998 Harper said that supply management was a government-sponsored price-fixing cartel. They know what he said in the past about the Wheat Board. Now, they see that, as in any large institution, perhaps there are some amendments to bring, but rather than fixing the Wheat Board, it seems that all moves are toward “the fix”--that there is a fix in for the Wheat Board.
I see at first blush the 16,000 disenfranchised producers, I see a task force that seems stacked, and the way it works seems to be coming to a direction.... I see the appointment to the board for the first time of a producer who is against the board. I see all these questions, and I can understand why dairy farmers and poultry producers across this country are worried that if a movement begins in a few years against supply management because some people can see an advantage in operating alone, they might face the same thing.
So I think the process we go through is very important, and people are looking at this as a barometer. Again, I don't want to express an opinion on how western farmers should market their product. I think that's a decision for them to make. It needs valid debate, and people must know all the facts before these decisions are made. I agree with that.
A couple of points were brought forward by Mr. Wartman, and I have two questions.
It seems sensible to me that if we undo the single desk thing we will never be able redo it. It will be very difficult. I understand it was brought about in very difficult circumstances during the dirty days when there was an entire collapse in the industry. It started at that time. How would you do it now? I don't know. If I'm wrong on the history, I'm sure I'll be filled in. But can you operate realistically with a single desk and a free system? Can those work together? You pointed out the question of infrastructure.
On the second question, I'd like you to answer, Mr. Wartman, and if there's time, the other two may be able to answer. Is it possible to have part of the prairie provinces under a single desk system and part of them under a free system?