Mr. Speaker, I cannot believe what we have just heard from the Parliamentary Secretary for the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans. He lives in Prince Edward Island. He knows that the Canadian Wheat Board applies only to the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba and does not allow the people in those provinces to market their grain freely. He knows that he does not have to comply with the wheat board yet he sits there defending it.
He probably does not even know what the initial price of wheat is right now that the wheat board is handing out. That is why we have a farm income crisis on the prairies. It is about time this government started to listen because it is a very serious problem. It is because grain prices are so low and farmers do not have the choice.
As I sit here and listen to the debate in the House in Private Members' Business, one thing occurs to me. Probably what is being debated after hours in the House of Commons is more important to the people of Canada than the bills that are being introduced by this government all day long. Private Members' Business probably addresses some of the key concerns that Canadians have. This is one of those concerns. There are major concerns out there with regard to the Canadian Wheat Board.
Why do we need to have more transparency? A free, open and democratic society needs to have transparency in its institutions, especially if an institution is a monopoly. If we have a government granted monopoly and we expect people to comply with it willingly, that monopoly, that organization, the Canadian Wheat Board, needs to have the confidence of the people who must comply with the monopoly powers of that agency. That is why this whole discussion is so important.
There are many reports that the Canadian Wheat Board is dumping grain on the international market into the U.S., that it is selling grain below its competitors on the Minneapolis Stock Exchange. We have no way of knowing if those reports are true. That is why we need someone who can go into the books and report to the farmers who must comply with that agency as to whether or not that accusation is true.
Whether we like the agency or not, we still need to have that transparency. Without that, it is going to have serious problems.
I took the amendments to Bill C-4, the Canadian Wheat Board Act brought forth by this government to the farmers in my riding. I took a survey and used several different instruments to find out what farmers thought. One of the things I found was that over 80% of the farmers in my riding, and this is probably representative of farmers in the three prairie provinces, supported the idea that is being proposed here, that the auditor general be allowed to look at the books. Yet that government over there is defending this abhorrent situation.
It is time the people of Canada came to the rescue of farmers and helped them out in this situation. If over 80% of farmers want transparency and they want the auditor general to look at the books and report as to whether they are doing a good job, it is time we listened because they are forced by this government to comply.