Mr. Speaker, yesterday in Saskatoon I spoke to the annual meeting of the Hudson Bay Route Association and it has a message for the Minister of Transport.
The association is based in Saskatchewan and Manitoba and its members believe we would achieve benefits by making greater use of the port of Churchill.
The only way to move grain and other products to Churchill is by rail, so the association is very interested in anything related to rail transportation.
The association, as I mentioned, wants to send a clear message to the transport minister regarding the Estey Report and its follow up. The message is this: The federal government must maintain the statutory rate cap on the movement of western grain by rail. This is necessary to protect farmers against railway monopoly. Second, the Canadian Wheat Board must retain its current prominent role in the assembly and shipping of grain by rail.
This is what most farmers want, and they want me to send that message to the minister before he makes up his mind on what to do about the Estey report.