Evidence of meeting #2 for Bill C-18 (41st Parliament, 1st Session) in the 41st 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
The Chair Conservative Blaine Calkins
Okay, thank you very much.
Mr. Rousseau, you have five minutes.
NDP
Jean Rousseau NDP Compton—Stanstead, QC
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. If I can, I am going to share my time with Mr. Allen.
NDP
Jean Rousseau NDP Compton—Stanstead, QC
Thank you.
Mr. Friesen, thank you for being here.
What kind of technical support can FNA provide to producers who are going to be in a tough spot if the Canadian Wheat Board is going to be progressively dismantled over the next few years? Based on the bill, our understanding is that, if farmers no longer use the Canadian Wheat Board, it will be dismantled.
You said that you are a partner in all this. Can FNA provide producers in difficulty with the technical means to get by or to move on to something else?
NDP
Jean Rousseau NDP Compton—Stanstead, QC
No, I'm talking about ways to handle the dismantling of the Wheat Board.
Farmers of North America Inc.
Perhaps I've been misunderstood. We're not talking about helping to dismantle the Wheat Board or about hastening the dismantling of the Wheat Board. What we're saying is that when this bill passes and we no longer have a single-desk Wheat Board, the issues I raised need to be addressed. We need to make sure that considering those issues, we are the architects of a system that will work for the collective group of those farmers who would like to continue to work in that group.
We're also not saying that we are there to compete against a new Wheat Board. Rather, the new Wheat Board would also be a farm organization. We're a farm organization, and we would be more prone to building partnerships and alliances with an organization like that again to create an even bigger group to empower farmers as much as possible on shortline rail, on grain aggregation, on finding inland terminal space, on finding port positions for the grain. So all of that, of course, is contingent on getting a good group of farmers and getting a business plan in place, but again, it's not about replacing the Wheat Board. It's about being prepared for a new environment and allowing farmers to work inside a new environment that will continue to empower them and make sure that they improve their cost-competitiveness and their profitability. We made one suggestion as far as raising capital for farmers goes. We're not even saying that would be enough, but we are saying that would be a start to provide an opportunity for farmers to invest in something to adapt to a new grain handling, transportation, and marketing environment.
So again, to sum up, we're trying to define where the puck is going to be and make sure we're prepared for it to be there on behalf of all those farmers who are interested in being part of a group that we think has the potential to empower them. Again, there will be others who say they want to market on their own. That's fine, but we at least would like to make sure we have an empowerment tool in place.
NDP
Malcolm Allen NDP Welland, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Friesen.
I understand the sense that you are looking for synergies, perhaps, with what the Wheat Board might become--an alliance.
So as you work on this project you're outlining--and you said you're not able to answer some of the questions yet because the work is ongoing--do you have a sense of a timeline as to when you will have completed that? Do you have a sense of how you will be able to utilize the knowledge you gain to perhaps ally your organization with whatever this Wheat Board will become? Because, quite frankly, at the moment the legislation talks about the minister basically deciding what it will look like. I think actually I might like you and the farmers rather than just the Minister of Agriculture, whoever that minister happens to be, to have that decision-making power.
Farmers of North America Inc.
I don't want to leave people here with the feeling that we're out to replace the Wheat Board because we made some recommendations we think are quite important with regard to a new Wheat Board. It has to be run by a board of directors that has the success of a marketing agency for farmers in mind. Beyond that, it should help farmers work within that new environment together with decision-makers, including the people in the room, of course, and several levels of governments, to make sure we find solutions to some of the outstanding concerns we have. I don't think we're alone in some of those concerns, and the board should make sure that they are addressed and that a group of farmers will not be left stranded. Let me put it that way. We want to facilitate that happening, together with whoever we can work with.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Blaine Calkins
Thank you, Mr. Friesen.
Mr. Allen, you've gone over your time by a considerable amount.
Mr. Zimmer, go ahead for five minutes, please.
Conservative
Bob Zimmer Conservative Prince George—Peace River, BC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Bob. I actually really like your name. Anyway, it's refreshing to hear you looking forward, and thanks for coming at this late hour.
Part of our goal is to do this quickly. The rationale is to actually give the farmers certainty, and to provide this certainty and clarity without delay, so we wanted this to be ready by August 1, 2012. We've been told we're rushing through this, but there's a good reason for it.
I'd also like to thank you for clarifying that the position of government is not to get rid of the Wheat Board. It's quite the opposite. It's to have a dual-market system where the CWB has a place, as do farmers who want to sell in the open market. So thanks for clarifying that as well.
As you know, we planned a transition from a system that jailed farmers for selling their products to a system that embraces opportunity and freedom for the future. For me, it's such a stark contrast from what it was to what it's going to be. There's a lot of hope there for us.
What do you think is a positive future for western Canadian grain producers? And unlike my colleague Mr. Martin, I know that B.C. is one of the four provinces that actually produce grain. What do you think our positive future is?
Farmers of North America Inc.
The grains and oilseeds industry in Canada has a huge future. I think we're probably more efficient than anybody else in the world. Our farmers have learned to do it right, even on the input side. I think farmers are beginning to realize—and you must know that in western Canada, as farmers say repeatedly—that one of the biggest concerns they have is input cost. They're pushing back against input cost.
Typically, with many of our exports, the world price is the world price. How else can you then improve your profits? You do it by reducing input costs. I think there's a huge future for the grains and oilseeds sector.
Conservative
Bob Zimmer Conservative Prince George—Peace River, BC
Thank you.
I have another question. Can you tell this committee some very specific opportunities in the value added in other sectors that you're going to see from this move with our Bill C-18?
Conservative
Bob Zimmer Conservative Prince George—Peace River, BC
Yes. Can you tell this committee some very specific opportunities in the value added in other sectors? Specifically.
Farmers of North America Inc.
I would be speaking above my expertise on that one. Sorry, I'm not trying to be cagey about it.
Farmers of North America Inc.
I don't know anything about the value-added industry in the grains and oilseeds sector.
Conservative
Bob Zimmer Conservative Prince George—Peace River, BC
Thank you.
An example that my constituents have told me about is the possibility of noodle factories and the like being added just because the proximity to grain is there. The access to grain is there now, and the opportunities are being discussed as we speak. I just wanted to know if you saw or are aware of any of these opportunities.
Farmers of North America Inc.
No, I'm not, but again, the investment idea we had would also facilitate investment in value added, and in fact the draft document we have on that initiative talks about exactly that, about using it as an incentive and stimulus for value-added investment.
Farmers of North America Inc.
Of course the other thing that's kind of encompassing this whole thing is we've heard people say that if current grain handlers are now going to handle the grain, they're going to be making the profits and giving them to their shareholders. Yes, of course, grain companies do exactly that: they make a profit and give it to their shareholders. Together with farmers, we would like to do everything we possibly can to keep as much of that money in farmers' pockets as possible.
