Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for his speech. I understand where he is coming from on some of these issues and I consider them to be important. I found his comment regarding a physician general to be interesting. However, I am more concerned about some of the things that were not addressed by the government in past budgets. I want to talk about agriculture for a minute.
We have not heard a member from that side of the House speak on agricultural issues. We are entering probably into a fourth year where all indications are there that we will be in a serious situation regarding drought. It does not look like it will come about, yet it is not discussed. There do not seem to be any future plans in terms of budgetary items we can look for. I would like to see that as part of the discussion because it is extremely important.
I specifically want to ask a question of the member, who is the parliamentary secretary to the public works minister and minister responsible for the wheat board. He has indicated a number of times that the wheat board is farmer driven and operated by farmers. I know that his minister has indicated the same thing. Dairy farmers are operating the dairy board, there is no minister. The poultry board is being operated by the poultry producers, there is no minister. The government claims that the wheat board is operated by the farmers. Why in the world then do we need a Wheat Board minister? Why do we not close that office and shut it down?