Mr. Speaker, one of the most important issues facing prairie people today is the future of the Canadian Wheat Board. The vast majority of prairie producers support the Canadian Wheat Board and yet they feel that its future is being threatened. There are many reasons for this, not the least of which has been the federal minister of agriculture's complete reluctance to stand up for the board whenever it needed defending.
The latest threat, however, is the continued freelancing of wheat into the United States by individuals who seem to think they can ignore the law to further their own goals.
There have been numerous organized attempts to cross the border from Canada into the United States to sell wheat. These are strictly prohibited by Canadian law. In doing so, these freelancers are exacerbating trade tensions between Canada and the United States, are risking the complete shutdown of agricultural trade between Canada and the United States, or at the very least are risking the imposition of yet another cap on the sales that currently occur under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Wheat Board.
Things are not getting any better out there. Canada has enjoyed some very good wheat sales into the United States. Millers and pasta makers want our high quality durum and the Canadian Wheat Board has been taking full advantage of that in promoting the high quality Canadian product throughout the U.S. marketplace.
But U.S. farmers do not like this. There is a lot of political and public pressure on U.S. congressmen and senators to stop the cross-border traffic in wheat. Canada could very well find itself squaring off with the United States in the near future, not just across our border, but in the world marketplace as well. This is looking more and more likely as the new U.S. farm bill comes into being.
The Americans are looking at maintaining a dominant role in the world marketplace. They are looking to increase their grain production. They are expecting to leave their export enhancement program in place. When you add this into the pot with the negative feeling toward those north of the border, that could certainly be bad news for Canada.
In maintaining friendly trading relations with the United States, the Canadian Wheat Board has successfully sold tonnes of wheat into the United States over the years. The wheat has moved quietly and quickly into the U.S. market and Canadian farmers who respect the board have been rewarded with increased payments from the board.
In supporting the board, Saskatchewan's minister of agriculture, Andy Renaud, said: "The Canadian Wheat Board can move grain into the U.S. for the benefit of all prairie farmers, not just a few, and do it in a way that minimizes as much as possible the threat of new trade restrictions".
He also said that the Saskatchewan government supports strong action to stop illegal sales to ensure that the U.S. market remains open for all farmers.
The Americans, and in particular the American multi-national grain corporations, realize the strength of the board and have been campaigning to force us to get rid of it. The board has been so successful that the U.S. feels threatened by it. Now some Canadian farmers are joining forces with these Americans to try to kill the board.
They falsely believe that without the board they will have better success at marketing their own grains in the United States. The board is defending itself in the marketplace, but it needs help from Canada's minister of agriculture. Good words are one thing, but actions are more important.
At a recent grain industry general meeting, the minister said that those who cross the border with grain for sale are law breakers and that those who violate the law are harming their cause to get changes to the Canadian Wheat Board Act.
In response, I urge the minister not to make changes to the Canadian Wheat Board Act. And one more time I ask him, is he prepared to take whatever action is necessary to defend single desk selling and enforce the rules and regulations as they have been set out in Canadian law?