Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague opposite for his question. As I started to make my remarks in this Chamber, one of my hon. friends in the Reform Party—he is a good friend and a fine gentleman—asked whether I had ever handled wheat, whether I had ever been on a wheat farm. I may have combined as much wheat and I am certain more than several Reform Party members. I just thought I would answer that.
The hon. member from Yorkton asked about the board of directors in his question. He compared it to Ontario. There is a difference between the wheat board in Ontario and the wheat board in western Canada.
The Ontario Producers' Marketing Board markets about 900,000 tonnes of wheat a 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 to more than 70 countries. It should be noted that the financial implications of the decision by the Canadian Wheat Board are much larger than those associated with the Ontario wheat board.
The bottom line is that the power has been given to the directors. Ten out of fifteen of these directors will be elected by the producers and two to one is a good majority.