There are several issues here. I'll go through them as quickly as I can.
Obviously changing the CFFOP program wasn't done lightly. The 15,000 people who were in the CFFOP program last year will continue in the program this year. They will be able to follow through as originally planned with the program in its second year, and then we'll evaluate it at the end of that.
It is important to note, of course, that while we have changed the CFFOP program, within two weeks or so we added an extra $1 billion in new spending for farmers, including a farmers' savings plan that will put $600 million out and put $400 million on the costs of production side. That will make the CFFOP program pale by comparison. Six times as much money is being spent on those new programs as there was in the CFFOP program. There are improvements; there's more money being offered and available to all these farmers and more, and more money to boot.
On the issue of the Wheat Board, as you say, Mr. Easter, we're going to disagree, and that's fine. I understand there are different political positions, and that's as it should be. We campaigned on this in the last federal election. It was front and centre on our brochure that we would like to have more marketing choice for western Canadian grain farmers. We asked a question--it's almost identical to another question you asked me in the written thing.
This is from the 2006 Canadian Wheat Board annual producers survey. They asked the questions--well, here's their summary. The summary from the Wheat Board says that on barley, just under half preferred dual marketing, 46%, and then 19% want a totally open market. That's up three points from last year, and that's from the Wheat Board's own survey. In other words, it's the majority of people. It's exactly consistent with the plebiscite--that's not surprising, I guess--and exactly consistent with polling data that I saw last fall. I don't know if it was Ipsos Reid, but it was an independent pollster.
Barley farmers want choice on marketing their barley. It's interesting to me right now; I have no complaints, or very few complaints. I shouldn't say none, because philosophically people who want the Wheat Board will want it come hell or high water, I think, but what I'm not hearing is a groundswell of support from people asking us to please put them in the barley pool and give them less money right now. What they're saying is, “Free me up right now, and I can finally make a killing in the barley market. Finally I can get the money that I should have been getting all along. Finally, after begging for such a long time, I'm going to get a return on my investment and all my risk.”
Under this system barley producers are finally going to get a lot more money for their barley, and they are thankful for that. They're ready to move on that. Even the people who say they supported the Wheat Board are reluctant right now--let's face it--to ship it to the Wheat Board, because if you ship it to the Wheat Board right now, you'll get less money than you will on the open market. They are reluctant to do that, not because of questions that we've raised or anything else, but that's a decision they have made; they're voting with their pocketbooks. Farmers finally are getting a return that they deserve on their investment. We've all said farmers should get their money from the marketplace; this is finally a chance for them to do that. I'm pleased as punch for these guys.
To people who say we should intervene in some way and stand up for international grain companies, which is basically what you're saying, I'm saying it's time to stand up for the farmers. Farmers finally are going to get the bang for their buck that they have long deserved and have pleaded for.