Madam Speaker, it is a real pleasure to rise in the House today to speak on a bill that I have looked at thoroughly.
It is appreciated that after 34 years I farmed and had a wheat board permit book, I can finally say something on the issue.
I was enthused when the hon. member for Malpeque started to talk about the benefits of the Canadian Wheat Board. He must have a relative in Winkler, Manitoba. During the fair this summer I had an office there and people came to talk to me. One gentleman came in and asked me to support the wheat board.
I want to maintain the wheat board. I have always wanted to keep the wheat board but I want to make it accountable and make sure it gets the best prices for the farmer.
He wanted me to make sure the wheat board stayed. I asked him how much wheat board grain he grew and whether he was a big farmer because I did not know him. He had a quarter section and a good job at Triple E, a mobile home manufacturer. He grew a quarter of wheat board grain, mostly feed barley.
I asked him how many bushels he sold to the wheat board and his answer was zero. He sold no grain to the wheat board. I then asked why he was concerned about keeping the wheat board. It was because he raised hogs and wanted to keep cheap feed prices.
The hon. member for Malpeque went from dairy to beef cattle. I know why he wants to keep the wheat board. He wants to keep cheap feed prices. That is the support the wheat board has.
It is amazing to hear him say that the wheat board is the main gatherer of supplies. It has the supplies it can deliver. Why do we have all our wheat board grain in bins, all the canola, flax and lentils? Everything is gone. It has been sold at good prices. Why do we have wheat board grains in the bins? There is no money for that.
The member also talked about law breakers. The member for Malpeque should explain which laws were broken. All they did was sell their grain for a better price than they could get from the wheat board. Is it criminal to get the best price for their grain?
I can see why members opposite object to the preamble my hon. colleague from Yorkton—Melville proposed. They do not want to sell it for the best price. They are afraid to put that in the preamble because somebody could challenge that statement.
Why did parliament originally pass the wheat board act? In the 1920s and the 1930s it was to provide competition to the grain companies to get a better price for the farmers. Why has a preamble never been included in the wheat board act? Why is it a sin to put that preamble into an act that is supposed to protect the interests of farmers? I would like that explained.
Why would we pass legislation in the House that does not identify what it is all about? Why would we pass legislation if we do not have the guts to include the preamble or to indicate the intent of the bill, what it is supposed to do, and the bylaws in the bill upon which regulations and rules have to be set?
Not everybody is a lawyer. We do not have any on this side. The Liberals have lots of them so they should be able to identify the intent of a bill. If they do not want to identify the intent, why have it? It sounds ridiculous to me.
I was impressed by the hon. member from the Bloc. We have always been classified as separatists; Reform members are separatists. We can work together with our Bloc colleagues and identify good and bad legislation. I appreciate those members in the House who have the guts to say what is right and what is wrong.
Why in the world would we pass legislation to divide the country? If it is not unifying when Reform and Bloc members agree on a bill, I do not know what is unifying. What are we to say about that?
What will hon. members from Ontario answer? Every member of its wheat board is elected. Why should Manitoba, Alberta and Saskatchewan have partially appointed boards? Why are Manitoba, Alberta and Saskatchewan different from Ontario? Why can we not elect all the directors and make them accountable to the farmers? That is what should happen.
If they can give me a solitary reason why they should not be elected when Ontario's board members are elected, I will agree with them. As long as it gives different powers and different regulations to different provinces, it only creates separatism and hostility among certain parts of the country.
We have had enough of that. We have seen for three and a half years in the House the divisiveness that is created when different regions have different powers. Why do we want to create another difference? I would like that explained to me. I cannot see that happening in the bill, the way it is drafted.
I do not know why these people are afraid of identifying the bill for what it is. If the bill does not give farmers the right to sell their grain for the best price, it is not worth the paper it is written on. It will do more harm than good.
I would like the House to support amendments such as the one moved by the hon. member for Yorkton—Melville.
I also express my appreciation to the hon. member for Brandon—Souris. He did a very good job relating his feelings. He is a member of the opposition who has an interest in farming. He is located in a central community which benefits from the farmers around it. He knows what he is talking about. He is not just talking through his hat.
It has been a pleasure to say a few words. I am sure I will get another chance when some of the other motions are being debated.
I encourage Liberal members to stay in the House and listen to the debate. I see they have disappeared again. We can see from that how much interest they have in the bill. We can see how much they are concerned about what is happening in western Canada. It is a shame there are only four or five members on that side of the House when we are debating a bill of this importance.