Mr. Speaker, it is a privilege and a very great interest of mine to be involved in a discussion in this House on agricultural issues.
Coming from the riding of Kindersley-Lloydminster where most of us make our livelihood either directly or indirectly from agriculture, myself included, I feel it is a very important issue and I appreciate the chance to speak to it. I have chosen to address the problems that many farmers face in the marketing of their produce and the federal agency responsible for prairie grain marketing, the Canadian Wheat Board.
The Canadian Wheat Board should more appropriately be called the prairie wheat board, as its mandate limits the board's activity to the three prairie provinces and a small part of British Columbia in the Peace River area. There is a similar organization in Ontario called the Ontario Wheat Board. I find it is one of the best kept secrets across the prairies that in fact the Canadian Wheat Board is not a national board but a regional board. Many producers I am finding in my part of the world did not even realize there was an Ontario Wheat Board.
This Ontario Wheat Board is rather interesting. It was established in 1958 by a vote of Ontario wheat producers. It operates under the authority of the Ontario Farm Products Marketing Act. There are 18,000 wheat producers in Ontario and the Ontario board is run by 10 directors who are elected by the producers. The board operates on a one producer, one vote system. Each of the 10 directors represents a geographic district within the province. Each district elects one delegate to the annual meeting for each 250 producers within that district. The directors are then elected from among those delegates.
The Canadian Wheat Board on the other hand has 137,000 producers or permit book holders, compared with the 18,000 farmers who control the Ontario board. Many opponents of a producer control system claim that the government will not guarantee initial prices for a depoliticized organization like the Ontario Wheat Board.
However, the realities are that the initial payments are guaranteed for both the Canadian Wheat Board and the Ontario Wheat Board.
The wheat board act limits the Canadian Wheat Board's activities to wheat and barley grown for human consumption. The Ontario Wheat Board is mandated by statute to limit its activities to wheat production and marketing within the province of Ontario. This demonstrates that there are some differences and some similarities in the scope and the influence of a
producer directed organization compared with one which is government run.
The single biggest difference between the two is that the Ontario Wheat Board is democratic and the Canadian Wheat Board is run by a panel of three to five commissioners who are appointed by the governor in council. This means that the minister is usually the one who recommends the names.
The Canadian Wheat Board is a crown corporation and its commissioners are political appointees. Nevertheless, producers pay for all of the operations of the board through the amount subtracted from the final payments for the producer's grain. In fact, most agriculture marketing agencies, including those in the supply managed sector, include producers in the decision making and managerial process. The Canadian Wheat Board is the odd man out, being a top down, government run corporation.
Many farmers in western Canada are not happy with the actions of the Canadian Wheat Board and the way it is run. Far too much time and energy is spent in all places, from the courts to the coffee shops, trying to determine what the powers of the board should be, what commodities should be added or left out of the wheat board's mandate, should farmers be selling their grain on a contract basis or under the quota system or both, and in that case what proportion for each.
There is much discussion about the board's monopoly power versus the principle of marketing options. Perhaps one of the biggest irritants today is the wheat board's involvement in grain car allocation. My hon. colleague from Lisgar-Marquette discussed that situation from the aspect of the western grain transportation authority as well. There are many fingers in the pot here. It seems like the end result is that the service is not very good.
What sticks in the craw of so many producers is that these complex issues to which there are no easy solutions require solutions, but the producers have no substantial say as to how these problems are to be solved.
Another great disadvantage to the Canadian Wheat Board being an arm of the government is the way that new wheat prices or final payments or price changes are announced. It was common in years past for ministers of agriculture to play politics with the announcement of either price increases or decreases. Farmers were used as pawns, waiting for the right kind of announcement so that the minister could get as much political mileage or minimize the political fallout from grain price announcements.
We as Reformers have been quite clear on the direction of marketing reforms. It is paramount that the Canadian Wheat Board be democratised. It must be accountable to the producers it serves and producers must have the ability to change or update the mandate of the board when they feel their interests could be better served.
Producers must have control over how their grain is marketed. We must remember that it is after all their grain. If producers decide through a democratic process that the mandate of the board should be expanded to cover other grains and oilseeds then the act should be changed to respect the wishes of producers. If this is done they may choose to provide opting out provisions for niche markets. The purchase of grains on a cash or pool basis might be considered to improve current marketing arrangements. We would like to see the expansion of producer contracts if farmers so desire.
Once the board is democratised the decision will be up to producers to make, but we feel that the Canadian Wheat Board should maintain its responsibility for initial payment shortfalls. Government loan guarantees for export sales should also be continued for as long as other nations do the same.
We have a responsibility to recognize that change is required because present realities in the agriculture industry are different from when the Canadian Wheat Board was brought into existence.
My father was a pioneer. When he first delivered his wheat he had to hitch up a wagon and a team of horses and haul that wheat 26 miles to a small community called Waldeck, Saskatchewan. When he got there he did not know what the price was going to be. He did not know what the grade of that grain was going to be. There was a requirement for change in the way our products were marketed and we saw improvements to the system which enabled him to have some protection in the marketing of his product.
Today's situation is different with modern transportation and modern communications. In fact, we cannot maintain a system that was intended for 30, 40, 50 years ago. We must be prepared to look to new and innovative means of marketing our products.
We know from the Ontario example that a producer controlled system is possible. That particular organizational model may or may not fit on the prairies, but I feel that the principle of a producer directed process does. If we give farmers the chance to design, control and continually update their marketing system a much more effective, fair and cost efficient Canadian Wheat Board would result. As legislators we would give it the freedom to act.
In conclusion, I would like to express my appreciation for this time being allotted for a discussion of agriculture. The government seems to have put a very low priority on agricultural issues. On behalf of all the farmers of Kindersley-Lloydminster and all of Saskatchewan, I am grateful for the opportunity to try and solve some of the very important issues facing rural Canada.