Mr. Speaker, you asked for some concrete evidence. I will be very brief. The day after this meeting was held in Regina on January 21, I held a meeting in Yorkton with 300 farmers present.
Some of those farmers came up to me afterward and asked me this direct question: “In light of what the minister is doing, he has already assumed that the bill is passed. Why are we even discussing these amendments?”
I will give a little background information. The 300 farmers who assembled in Yorkton on January 22, the day after that, came there with the intent of discussing three major amendments that I had proposed. They asked me what the point was of even discussing them if the minister had already assumed that the legislation passed.
That shows the seriousness of this discussion. They see parliament as being a useless exercise because of what the minister has done. The amendments I put forward were viewed with disdain, with being a useless exercise because they said that he was already talking about putting in place the board of directors as if the bill were passed.
As a member of Parliament I am wasting my time. That is how serious the matter is. We really have been undermined by the actions of the minister because they see us as not having any effect in this place. I think it is very serious and I offer that concrete evidence to you, Mr. Speaker.