Mr. Speaker, the hon. member knows that the Government of Canada is in full support of the Canadian Wheat Board, particularly after the changes we made to ensure that the Wheat Board was controlled by Canadian farmers and not government.
It is important for all hon. members to recognize that the decisions being taken by the Wheat Board are decisions taken by farmers themselves. It is critical, in terms of marketing of wheat in Canada, that farmers themselves have control on how they market their wheat.
The hon. member knows that I have just returned from the Cairns Group of meetings regarding supply management. This is a group of countries that probably does not have the same ideas of the importance of supply management as does the Government of Canada. I made it very clear to the Cairns Group, to the head of the WTO and to the head of the agriculture committee at the WTO that the Government of Canada was committed to keeping our system of supply management as we worked through these international negotiations.
We feel that countries, such as Canada, that have sensitive industries, should be protected and should continue to be able to protect them within their programs with regard to their commitments at the WTO.