Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 32(2) I am pleased to present today the Canadian Wheat Board 2007-08 financial statements in both official languages.
I would also like to draw to the attention of the House a point of concern associated with the Wheat Board's contingency fund. This fund is intended to cover the risk involved in operating the producer payment options program. Page 38 of the report reads:
When other revenues (pricing damages) and program expenses (including net hedging results, interest and administration expenses) are accounted for, the programs generated a net loss of $89.5 million.
That loss this year is on top of the nearly $40 million the board lost in the same way in its programs last year. Clearly, the board has not learned from these mistakes and has compounded the problem, continuing on with the same risk management practices. All of these losses add to the contingency fund's deficit which has cost farmers $120 million.