Mr. Speaker, the motion put forward today by the member for Kindersley-Lloydminster appears reasonable on the face of it. Indeed, it sounds reasonable that for a two-year period the Canadian Wheat Board could allow farmers, if they choose to do so, to sell their wheat and barley outside the jurisdiction of the board, if they thought it was a good idea at that particular time.
Let me point out that this motion represents a piecemeal and a cavalier approach to the serious business of marketing Canadian grains around the world, and the serious business of one of the top four or five sectors in the Canadian economy, agriculture and food.
There is a lot of good news in agriculture and food these days. First, prices for wheat and barley are higher than they have been for some time. After years of low prices, competing with the treasuries of the United States and the European Union which used massive amounts of export subsidies to keep the price of wheat down, prairie grain farmers are reaping the long overdue rewards of good prices.
Prairie grain farmers are reaping these rewards and that is good news for all Canadians. The world stocks of wheat are low, lower than they have been for a long time. Compounding this situation is a less than average winter wheat crop in the United States. That means low inventories and strong prices.
For the coming crop year which begins August 1, 1966, we are forecasting the price of a tonne of spring wheat at more than $260. That compares with just $134 a tonne in 1991-92 and $157 a tonne in the 1992-93 crop year.
Barley prices too are near record highs. The average price of feed barley for the three years between 1991 and 1994 was about $100 a tonne. For this coming crop year we are predicting the price to range from $135 to $155. Those good prices are benefiting all grain farmers, not just those who live along the 49th parallel. Perhaps it is the bonanza atmosphere after so many years in the doldrums that is fueling some of this short term, quick response from the other side.
Second, there have been many important and dramatic changes in agriculture over the last few years: a new world trading agreement and major policies changes within Canada, such as the end of the western grain transportation benefit. High grain prices, coupled with these changes and others are creating a real sense of optimism for grain farmers.
In fact, there is a groundswell of optimism throughout the agriculture and food sector as a whole. Between 600 and 700 who live, work and influence the agriculture sector will be gathering in Winnipeg next week to celebrate the excellence of Canadian agri-food and to collectively work on a business plan that focuses on maximizing the opportunities that abound for Canadian producers and companies at home and abroad. Good prices and good times do not necessarily last very long and now is a fortuitous time to work on those long term plans.
Turning specifically to grain marketing, any changes in the Canadian grain marketing system should be thoughtful and carefully reasoned with an eye on the long term prosperity of grain farmers, the prairie economy and to the overall benefit of all Canadians.
My colleague, the hon. Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food has taken a thoughtful approach in pursuing through the establishment of the western grain marketing panel an exclusive process
that has given all farmers a chance to put forward their views on the marketing of grains. It will be a thoughtful approach that will consider the benefits for that economy across the prairies, not just for those in a particular backyard when it comes to making changes in the marketing system that has served prairie farmers very well for more than half a century.
We are not squandering good times by making rash choices about the future. We are carefully exploring all points of view, all of the relevant facts, before proposing changes to the marketing of Canadian wheat and barley. No change will be made in an isolated, vague way which responds to the issues of the moment or the issues of one set of lobbyists.
It is a curious time for the opposition to bring this matter to the floor of the House of Commons when the western grain marketing panel is so close to completing its task.
The minister expects the panel to deliver its report in the next couple of weeks. He is eagerly awaiting the panel's report and will respond in his usual judicious and thoughtful manner. I urge members to defeat this motion.
As I travel throughout my riding, a rural agricultural riding in Saskatchewan, I do not get the response that some of the members from the third party suggest, that the Canadian Wheat Board should be destroyed. That is absolute nonsense.
A gentleman from Minnesota talked about one concern which he wrote about in a letter to the Western Producer . He said: ``I sure would keep the Canadian Wheat Board if I were a Canadian. I have been on the Minnesota Wheat Growers Board for the last three years. Not one board member was in favour of working for a fair price for wheat in Washington. Your farmers in Canada should work together to protect your own interests. By the way I don't like those Canadian farmers hauling their wheat across the border in violation of your laws''.
It seems passing strange that our American counterparts who have tremendous opposition to the Canadian Wheat Board are now finding solace in our friends in the third party. If it were such a poor system, do you think they would be complaining? In objecting to our Canadian Wheat Board, I doubt it very much.
I know the leader of the third party was in the United States. He suggested they should remove the irritant, the Canadian Wheat Board. However, when he returned home he suggested that a party based in the prairie provinces would not side with U.S. grain growers. I wonder how our friends in the third party are going to set the record straight. Either they are in favour of the American system and Canada abandoning our excellent wheat board or they are suggesting that we wait until the minister comes through with the report and he will take the appropriate action.