Madam Speaker, I too have had a very interesting experience dealing with this piece of legislation. My experience may be as interesting as that of the member for Brandon—Souris, as both of us entered into this debate probably two years after the debate started on the changes to the wheat board.
Given the various opinions that exist in the western provinces with regard to the role and function of the wheat board, the legislation struck the right changes to satisfy most producers affected in the Canadian west.
As previous speakers have said, western Canadian farmers need every possible advantage to tackle head on the challenges inherent in the changing global economy. We have heard that said over and over. The Canadian Wheat Board gives them an advantage that makes them the envy of farmers around the world.
Farmers have said clearly that they want the Canadian Wheat Board, but they want it to be more democratic, more responsive and more accountable, and this legislation does that. It would maintain the single desk system of selling grain that allows the wheat board to command premium prices from its customers around the world. It is a system that the majority of western farmers appreciates and wants.
The legislation fundamentally changes how the wheat board would be run. Farmers would be empowered to direct their own wheat board. While government would continue to be a partner, it would play a much smaller role in the new modernized Canadian Wheat Board.
Bill C-4 would not only change who runs the wheat board but how it would be run. The bottom line in Bill C-4 is that farmers through a majority elected board of directors would decide their own future. Directors elected by farmers would assess the performance of the Canadian Wheat Board and of senior management. They would be able to make changes if performance were not up to expectations.
Farmers quite rightly would make these important decisions about their own destinies through the board of directors which they would control through their two-thirds majority. If this is not democratic, if this is not transparent and if this is not fair and appropriate, I do not know what is.
With the passage of Bill C-4 the wheat board's future would not be determined by the government or by members of the House. Bill C-4 will come as a great relief to tens of thousands of farmers whose livelihoods are linked to the Canadian Wheat Board. They deserve to have the power to design their own futures.
I emphasize the support which exists outside the Chamber for this legislation. The precursor of this bill, Bill C-72, was widely debated. The agriculture and agri-food committee held about 40 hours of hearings on it in Ottawa and more critically in Winnipeg, Regina, Saskatoon, Calgary and Grande Prairie. The committee heard from more than 40 groups and 40 individuals. Many more people supported the legislation than opposed it.
There were concerns. The government listened and the committee took action. After these hearings the standing committee made more than 20 amendments to the bill. Those amendments are reflected in Bill C-4.
Under Bill C-4 the system by which the Canadian Wheat Board is currently run, that is by government appointed commissioners, would end and be replaced by a 15 member board of directors. The majority of directors, 10 out of 15, would be elected directly by farmers themselves.
Could anyone in the House of Commons name another $6 billion corporation that would be run by a board of directors, most of whom are elected by the clients they serve? This is more than unique. It is unprecedented.
The directors would have real power to direct all the business affairs of a modernized Canadian Wheat Board. They would have the power to review all Canadian Wheat Board sales and financial data, bar none. They would have the power to select their chairperson, set their own salaries as well as those of the chair and the president and, if necessary, recommend that the president be fired.
As farmer elected representatives, the directors would be as responsible to their electorate as we are. They will listen and respond to the needs of producers. If they do not they would likely not gain re-election. That is accountability.
We have heard a number of calls in the House for farmers to elect all members of the Canadian Wheat Board to the board of directors. Usually those calls point to the Ontario Wheat Producers' Marketing Board as an example of a grain marketing agency with a fully elected board. The question that usually follows is why the same cannot be done for the Canadian Wheat Board.
There is a number of quite valid reasons for treating the Canadian Wheat Board differently from the situation for grain marketing currently found in Ontario. The Ontario Wheat Producers' Marketing Board does not benefit from the same government guarantees as does the Canadian Wheat Board. The government does not guarantee the borrowings of the Ontario board while it does guarantee Canadian Wheat Board borrowings of more than $6 billion.
The situation is also different with respect to export credit guarantees. The Ontario board does not have its own export credit program. Rather it obtains export credit from the Export Development Corporation, an organization with a board of directors appointed entirely by government.
The Canadian Wheat Board operates its own credit grain sales program which benefits from a government guarantee. This is another reason for having the government appoint at least some members of the Canadian Wheat Board board of directors.
The financial implications of decisions made by the Canadian Wheat Board are much larger than those associated with the Ontario board. On average the Ontario Wheat Producers' Marketing Board markets about 900,000 tonnes of wheat per year mainly in Canada and the United States, while the Canadian Wheat Board markets an average of 25 million tonnes of wheat and barley per year in more than 70 countries.
The Canadian Wheat Board would continue to exercise certain public powers conferred by parliament such as the issuing of export licences for wheat and barley for all areas of the country. The Ontario board does not have such powers. For example, it must obtain export licences from the Canadian Wheat Board.
The government's role in Canadian Wheat Board operations would change from one of paternalism to one of partnership. The government would guarantee to provide financial guarantees to the wheat board. As these guarantees are worth billions of dollars, the government would need to continue to ensure the guarantees did not become a drain on the public treasury, as is only prudent.
The government would appoint five directors but the directors would be in a minority. The majority elected by farmers would clearly hold sway. Farmers in the Canadian Wheat Board have also asked for more options in how grain is marketed and paid for. As I mentioned earlier the Canadian Wheat Board is envied around the world for its size, its clout and its success. Of course it comes under attack by our trading competitors. Its high rating among global buyers clearly makes it a threat to our competitors.
The governor of North Dakota recently said that farmers from both countries should work together. He suggested that as a first step North Dakota farmers should be able to sell their grain to the Canadian Wheat Board. At the same time the United States bashes the Canadian Wheat Board.
If it were not doing a good job for Canadian farmers, would the U.S. government give a tinker's damn about the Canadian Wheat Board? I think not.
With Bill C-4 we are doing the right thing. We are positioning the Canadian Wheat Board for the new millennium and giving farmers the power to steer their own future. Bill C-4 deserves the full support of all members of the House.