Okay, I'll go to my solutions.
I think it's important we understand that there are options out there and there are living examples. The one in Quebec right now is a perfect example. It's also important to understand that these options are being utilized outside of this country. The winter wheat is a perfect example, in that varieties that are produced in western Canada from my program are being grown in the U.S.A. They are from the general purpose class, which means American farmers can grow them and they can be marketed back into Canada as flour and feed, but we do not allow our farmers the opportunity to grow these varieties. It's the same thing with flour that's being imported from France and the United States. Those varieties could not be grown in western Canada, so we're allowing farmers from outside this country access to our market that we do not allow our own farmers. If you go through the brief, you'll find a number of examples of this.
I'll go to my recommendations.
The Canadian Wheat Board should continue to market all classes of wheat, but its monopoly should be restricted to the Canadian western red spring and amber durum. These two classes account for nearly 90% of western Canadian wheat production and are the focus of Canadian Wheat Board marketing efforts.
The Canadian Wheat Board has shown no interest in market development of the different cultivar quality types within the Canadian and western general purpose wheat class. The Canadian Wheat Board monopoly should not be allowed to prevent others from actively operating in markets where the Canadian Wheat Board has no interest. For this reason, it is recommended that the federal government make immediate use of its power to grant Governor in Council licences to encourage market exploration and provide the opportunity to expand the markets for wheat produced in western Canada. This action would provide farmers in the Canadian Wheat Board area of western Canada the same competitive access to both Canadian and international markets as is currently available to farmers outside the country--also in eastern Canada.
We need to continue to encourage innovation. The recent attempts to create a more flexible wheat cultivar system that CFIA has started need to be encouraged.
Finally, the elimination of KVD requirements and the use of variety eligibility declarations now allows for greater flexibility and the development of a more fluid marketplace. The present dog-in-the-manger approach that restricts market access must be abandoned. Instead, our objective should be to develop and release cultivars with the special quality attributes that create as many food product and other market opportunities as possible so that ever-changing market opportunities can be quickly and accurately assessed on a continuing basis.
I wasn't able to get through all the examples—they're in the brief—but I would hope committee members take a close look at this. We have a situation in western Canada right now that is a sort of country-of-origin labelling problem in reverse.