Mr. Speaker, smoke and mirrors will not obliterate what is happening here. If this is so great, let Ontario be governed by it.
When the Ontario member replied to my proposal with regard to the Canadian Wheat Board, he was awfully careless with the truth. The majority of farmers in my riding and across the prairies support what I have brought forth. For the member to stand up and say that he cannot allow it to be votable because of some procedure in the procedure House affairs committee that denies it, is a crock. We can at this point right now allow this item to be votable.
Another thing the Liberal member across the way did not make clear is that the board of directors cannot change the legislation governing the Canadian Wheat Board. No matter how many directors farmers elect, they cannot change the mandate and the structure of the board.
Most Canadians have the perception that farmers are always looking for handouts. That is absolutely false. Farmers want the government to get its hands out of their pockets, and I suppose most Canadians feel the same way. What most Canadians get back from the government in goods and services is much less than what they pay to Ottawa in taxes and the same principle applies to farmers. Most farmers have to compete in the international marketplace so Canadian taxes hurt them.
My home province of Saskatchewan could be one of the wealthiest provinces and the third most populace, as my colleague has pointed out, if it were not for the disincentives government puts in front of entrepreneurs who want to forge ahead. That is the whole purpose of my motion. Some people feel government does not make a difference but it makes a huge difference. Socialist systems do not work, which is the difference between the U.S. and Russia and which partially explains the difference between provinces in Canada. The government not only forces the wheat board on farmers but it forces the grain handling and transportation system upon them, as well as an inspection grading system in which they cannot control costs. Farmers must pay a tax on fuel, on fertilizer and on chemicals. They must pay property taxes which have a much higher educational component than city dwellers and the list goes on. Through the wheat board, farmers must pay for transportation charges they never use and inspection fees they never benefit from. It does not make sense.
Let me get back to the basics. What do non-farmers, those who have taken the time to investigate this issue, say about this? This is a property rights issue. I will quote from an editorial in the National Post of June 16, 1999. It states:
For different reasons, many Canadian farmers dislike the then Wheat Board. The single-desk selling system represents a massive confiscation of their property rights, robbing farmers of the right to control and contract their own product. The few plucky farmers who have tried to truck their own durum and barley into the U.S. have been arrested for their efforts.
The Wheat Board represents one of the biggest obstacles to farmer prosperity on the Prairies. But the Canadian taxpayer is equally ill-served by this secretive institution, which has racked up $6-billion in unpaid, over-due or re-scheduled receivables, all back-stopped by Ottawa.
Many non-farmers are also asking questions.
I would again like to do something that may be very futile. I have asked for a vote on this issue in the House and Liberal MPs have denied me that democratic right. They have been given their marching orders from the Prime Minister and have been told to just say no. If we had a vote on this, backbench Liberals and NDP MPs would have to engage their brains. They would have to think through the unfairness that has been foisted on western Canadians. They would have to be personally accountable. They would have to answer right now.
I respectfully request that the House refer the motion to the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food so the committee can hear from the producers who have been negatively impacted by the Canadian Wheat Board monopoly. Surely we can have that much in the House.