Mr. Speaker, on December 14 the United States administration announced it would implement trade harassment at the Canadian Wheat Board. Who should United States farmers be concerned about, the Canadian Wheat Board or their own legislatures?
The U.S. congress just passed a new farm bill which would increase spending by $73 billion over the next 10 years. The original senate agriculture bill received the following review in December. It said that such a farm policy would stimulate overproduction, result in higher consumer milk prices, hurt U.S. farm trade by risking U.S. ability to meet current trade obligations and undermine U.S. efforts to phase out worldwide export subsidies in the future.
The conclusion is not mine but that of President Bush's office of management and budget. With those kinds of friends U.S. farmers do not have to look too far for the source of their problem and it is not the Canadian Wheat Board.