Thank you for the question.
I guess I'll start with my mutual fund analogy. A mutual fund is a pool. It's out there. It can be accessed by any investor under the terms and conditions of that pool. So the voluntary pools do work. I want to reinforce that point. It's not directly on your question, but I want to reinforce that point.
In terms of the collective approach to bargaining, which I think your question goes to the heart of, yes, there's theory and practice of collective bargaining. However, as I read it as an economist, the evidence, again, is that the Canadian Wheat Board does not produce net benefits. It has collective bargaining capability and monopoly powers, which is kind of unique. There aren't many collective bargainers out there that have monopoly power. Unions have very limited monopoly powers, at best.
Collective bargaining power notwithstanding, the way this organization is organized--over the large area, over the market conditions that exist--and the way things have changed over time, produces economic effects and results that at least I interpret as not producing net benefits. That's the best way I can answer your question I think. And it won't be satisfactory, I'm sure.
But the other one is that we don't need this collective bargaining power in most other organizations we're in. I'm in a hog operation. We don't do very well against the big companies, but we think we're doing better than when it was regulated in our province. It was partly as a consequence of the shift in the structure of production in the province of Manitoba that led to deregulation of the hog board.
These are historical events. They're not happening simply because western rednecks or free enterprisers or what have you.... Again, speaking as an economist, I claim to be neither of those, although there are doubts in this room about that, I'm sure. As an economic analyst, the fact of the matter is that people are moving away from that.
Now if you want to talk about the needs of competition in the agricultural sector, to make market power more balanced by other means, I'd love to come back to the committee and talk to that. But we can't do it today.