Madam Speaker, I am pleased to speak to Bill C-4, an act to amend the Canadian Wheat Board Act and to make consequential amendments to other acts.
At this point in the proceedings, we are debating the preamble suggested by Reform Party members. For the party in power, and especially for the member for Malpeque, I would like to read the motion tabled by our friends in the Reform Party.
WHEREAS agriculture is a basic foundation stone of the Canadian economy; and
WHEREAS interprovincial and export trade in grain produced in Canada is an essential element of the agricultural sector of the economy; and
WHEREAS it is necessary to establish an organization to coordinate such trade; and
WHEREAS such an organization will have a very significant effect on the producers of grain and must therefore have the securing of the best financial return to them as its object and first priority and must be accountable to them for its performance;
THEREFORE Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:
I was surprised at the speech by the member for Malpeque, who is opposed to such a preamble. This is not the first time a preamble has been discussed. There was talk of a preamble when the notion of distinct society was raised in connection with the Meech Lake accord. There was a preamble in which Quebec was described as a distinct society.
I see the minister from West Island laughing. She lives in my riding. She played an active role in that affair.