Evidence of meeting #26 for Agriculture and Agri-Food in the 39th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was farmers.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Larry Miller Conservative Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound, ON
Thank you.
My next question is to you, Mr. Friesen. You were talking about plebiscites and what have you. A few years ago, hog marketing boards were deregulated. Was there a vote then to deregulate them?
President, Canadian Federation of Agriculture
Manitoba had single-desk selling in the hog industry and they went to dual marketing.
Conservative
Conservative
Larry Miller Conservative Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound, ON
Thank you.
Mr. Sahl, you indicated that you've been in the wheat business as a producer. That's good. I'm a producer myself, in beef mostly, but I have grown wheat and sold it. So, Mr. Sahl, I presume you must have some family or what have you in the business, still farming.
As an Individual
My son is on the farm. I'm out there every spring driving a tractor, and I drive the combine every fall.
Conservative
Larry Miller Conservative Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound, ON
Good for you. My dad and father-in-law are still doing that, too, and that's good.
I've heard a lot of comment, because I have relatives who actively farm in Saskatchewan and Alberta, and I have friends who farm in those two provinces and in Manitoba. They've all told me that this issue over the Canadian Wheat Board has split families and neighbourhoods right down the middle. That's how divisive an issue it is. Does everyone in your family agree with your position on things, Mr. Sahl? Just a yes or no would be good.
As an Individual
As strange as it might seem, my granddaughter is a mouthpiece for the wheat growers—
Conservative
Conservative
Larry Miller Conservative Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound, ON
Whatever. I don't need to know. I'm just curious. What I'm trying to say is that this is a very divisive issue across the country, across the west.
Mr. Friesen, again going back to the plebiscite that you mentioned, there have to be some qualifications on membership lists and what have you. It has been suggested that if you've sold grain in the last two years, that should qualify you for any plebiscite.
I'll give you a personal thing. I grew a bit of wheat, as I indicated. I haven't sold any for six or seven years. Now, I am in Ontario, but if I were under the same circumstances and living in Saskatchewan or whatever, do you think I should qualify to have a vote in that plebiscite?
President, Canadian Federation of Agriculture
The CFA has no position on that.
Conservative
As an Individual
Yes. When I was on the advisory committee of the Wheat Board, we knew there were even a lot of people on there who had passed away. We made a deliberate attempt—
Conservative
Larry Miller Conservative Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound, ON
Mr. Sahl, it's a direct question, and I think it's pretty easy to answer.
Conservative
Conservative
Larry Miller Conservative Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound, ON
If you can, please make it quick, because I only have a few minutes and I do have some other questions.
As an Individual
In light of that, our farm was incorporated, so we'd have one entity in FIPA, and that lets me out. I'm a big part of that financially and every other way. I phoned the other day, and I'm not on the list.
Conservative
Larry Miller Conservative Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound, ON
So you think that if you're in a corporation, yes, you should have a vote. That may be a fair comment. If I were in your shoes, I might think the same.
Mr. Lobdell.
President, West Central Road & Rail
If you're a grain producer, I think you have every right to participate. There are reasons why you may not have grown wheat or durum in the past six years. I don't know what they would be, but certainly I know there are reasons that we sometimes grow less durum and more special crops. There are economic reasons to drive that. So I would certainly hope I would get an opportunity to vote on such an important decision.
Conservative
Larry Miller Conservative Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound, ON
I have another one here.
Mr. Friesen, you are president of an organization that basically represents farmers from every province, I presume, or certainly the biggest part of them. Of course, your job with your organization is to try to represent every facet, every commodity, what have you. You're not commodity-based; you're looking at everyone. That's a correct assumption.
I guess I find your stand on this a little disturbing. I am a member of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, which in turn basically makes me a member of your organization. Everybody here has to be treated the same. What the government has proposed to do with the Canadian Wheat Board is give everyone an option. It's not to get rid of the Wheat Board—that's nothing but fear-mongering—but to give everyone an option. The people who would like that freedom to make a choice benefit from this. The people who want to sell under the Wheat Board still have that choice. Everyone wins. I guess I would like to hear you justify how you could not go along with that, when everybody's a winner in the situation.