Mr. Speaker, $300 million is what farmers would save each year if we had a commercial grain handling system. Yet last week the Liberals announced a plan that will continue to control and restrict Canadian farmers.
In their news release the Liberals admit that moving the Canadian Wheat Board out of grain transportation would save farmers money. Why is the government only cutting the board's involvement in grain transportation by 25%? This action proves that the government is more concerned about the Canadian Wheat Board's monopoly than cutting costs for farmers.
The proposed changes to the grain handling system will do nothing to address the congestion of rail cars at the ports. This costs farmers millions each year.
The plan to put $175 million into prairie roads over five years is also a farce. That works out to about $12 million per province per year. That is enough to rebuild about 50 kilometres of secondary roads.
Instead of deregulation, farmers have a system that continues to take money out of their pockets. It is evident the government does not want to give farmers the freedom they deserve.