Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you, Minister.
Minister, yesterday I gave you a letter outlining the areas where we're very troubled by some of the decisions you've made and the lack of background reasoning for those decisions. I hope we can get some answers on the background material.
First, on the farm families options program, it really shouldn't matter whether you're getting letters of support on that program or not. On December 31, in good faith, farmers made decisions to do sound financial planning with their accountants, believing they could draw out of that program. After the fact, on April 20, you changed the rules of the game. That's absolutely unacceptable. They used all legal means possible--optional inventory adjustments, capital cost adjustments--and now they're being put in a financial rut as a result of your decision. Some of them promised their bankers that money would come out of the farm families options program.
I would ask you to seriously reconsider the decision to cancel that program. I think you may find that the Government of Canada is in a difficult legal position as a result of jeopardizing farmers' financial planning.
Second, you did compliment the committee, and we appreciate that, but Mr. Minister, we differ very strongly on the barley vote. There's no question about that. You and the government showed absolute contempt for this committee and for Parliament by ignoring a vote that instructed you to hold a vote based on clarity. You should admit that the vote you held on barley was basically an absolute fraud. There's no question about it. The activities of you and your parliamentary secretary parading across this country putting gag orders on board members of the Wheat Board, and the list goes on--you've heard me raise them in Parliament--to get the doctored result you got at the end of the day.... You really have 13.8% support in terms of getting rid of the Wheat Board, which will be the end result.
On that question, I'll say this to the department. Your tabling in the Canada Gazette looks more like a political document than a professional document. I think that professionally the department should be concerned about the way that is tabled in the Canada Gazette.
You don't mention that you're in effect collectively taking $52 million annually out of farmers' pockets as a result of the loss of single-desk selling. You do say you're worried about the cancelling of contracts. And you should be worried about our international reputation.
You said at the beginning of this meeting today that you're going to eventually move forward with wheat. How can international buyers have any confidence in terms of doing business with the Canadian Wheat Board if you go down that avenue or they have to cancel contracts in the future as a result of your government's actions? Is the Government of Canada going to compensate the Canadian Wheat Board, which flows through to farmers, as a result of any legal challenges, losses of contracts, etc., for your imposing on the Canadian Wheat Board that they change their marketing procedures effective August 1?