Mr. Speaker, the principal difficulty affecting Prince Rupert this year is a common difficulty that is affecting all Canadian grain ports and that is, quite frankly, a shortage of supply.
The hon. gentleman will remember that a couple of years ago the predicament was exactly the opposite with a huge volume of grain and congestion in the grain handling and transportation system.
The good news in this situation is that supply and demand have become far more balanced. It is far more favourable from the farmers' point of view. The volumes in Canada at the present time are lower than they have been historically. In fact, around the world grain supplies are probably at a 20-year low. As a result of that, prices have increased dramatically to the farmer's advantage.
The difficulty facing Prince Rupert is that grain supplies are lower now than they have been in a long time.