Mr. Speaker, they ask what corruptness. There has been allegation after allegation by Canadian farmers who have sought to take this issue to court only to find that the Canadian Wheat Board and this Liberal government do everything they can to keep the issues out of court.
When one Canadian farmer wants to try to do something for himself to improve his standard of living, to expand the best possible market for the product that through his toils he grew out of the ground, what do they do? They throw him in jail because he will not be guided by the dictatorial powers of the Canadian Wheat Board.
It is a sad day in this House when the Liberal government brings in closure on an issue so important as this. This is an issue that takes away the rights of Canadian farmers. It is a bill that serves to increase the secrecy of the Canadian Wheat Board. It is a bill that serves to cloak more in secrecy the goings on, the financial dealings and how they are doing business so that ordinary Canadian farmers and members of the opposition cannot get access to find out where the mismanagement is occurring, where the corruption is occurring, where the sleight of hand is occurring in the Canadian Wheat Board.
Who could we expect in advance to support the government on this oppressive bill? None other than the New Democratic Party members. We could have bet a day's wages that they were going to jump on board with the Liberals on this bill. The only type of authority they understand is a state authority.
That goes back to the roots of this member's philosophy when he talks about big brother looking after everything and not letting any individual initiative come to the surface, not rewarding individual efforts. That is not the style or the philosophy of the NDP. It wants a collective state where everyone works for the state. They get little in return and they pay into the big brother government.
No wonder the NDP member fled his rural riding after the 1993 election and sought refuge in the city where he could find some new fields on which to sow his socialist philosophy. It is unfortunate that he did and we have him back in the House.
The Liberals have put forward an oppressive bill. It oppresses the right of farmers to work hard, to succeed and to try to make life a little better for themselves. It places them under the thumb of a wheat board that does not want to open its books to Parliament. They would not even let the Auditor General of Canada look at the books.
What are the Liberals trying to hide by putting in a bill like this? They do not want the Auditor General of Canada, the watchdog for Canadian taxpayers including the western farmers, to look at their operation. Why? Because it would expose the mismanagement, the nepotism and yes, the corruption in the Canadian Wheat Board. There is that word again. It comes up all the time when I think of the Canadian Wheat Board.