Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Before the question of relevance to the motion even gets brought up, I would like to say, through you, that Mr. Easter did bring up the Wheat Board's competitiveness and the Wheat Board's past performance. I think while this whole discussion on the Wheat Board is a very important issue, it's important that both sides of the argument are read into the record, and I think it's also critically important that Mr. Easter recognize some of the very valuable, very in-depth research that has gone on in the last several years in regard to the Canadian Wheat Board.
I would like to read to the committee the executive summary of a report titled An Open Market for CWB Grain: A study to determine the implications of an open marketplace in western Canadian wheat, durum and barley for farmers, final report, June 2008, by the Informa Economics company.
Mr. Chair, this study says:
The following study has been conducted to address the need for up-to-date and objective analysis of the potential impact for farmers of an open market for wheat, durum and barley in western Canada. The approach utilized in this study refrains from—