The member across the way wants to heckle me because he does not like the facts. If we cannot compare numbers, maybe we could look at one of the studies that has been done about the Wheat Board and mention a few of the facts here so that the member for Malpeque after all these years may finally come to understand the pain and suffering that western Canadian farmers really endure because of that organization.
The Informa study, which was put out in June 2008, has been recognized and well accepted. It showed that the Wheat Board earned no premium for farmers. U.S. farmers actually received higher prices for spring wheat in five of the last six years. Our farmers are at a competitive disadvantage to U.S. farmers in five out of six years.
Canadian Wheat Board spring wheat pool returns have been on the average of about $16 per tonne below North Dakota's prices. That is about 50¢ a bushel on average. That is a big difference for farmers. It adds up to a lot of money on their farms. Durum returns have been $12 a tonne below North American prices. U.S. farmers received higher malt barley prices. That is really frustrating because there is no one in this country who understands the malt barley marketing system in western Canada who believes that the Wheat Board is doing a good job.
If the people at the Wheat Board could find a way out of it, I think even they themselves would like to get out of that because they know they are not doing a good job for farmers. By contrast, in the last eight years on the free market, canola prices received by Canadian farmers have been higher than canola prices received by U.S. farmers. That shows that when our farmers are put in a situation where they can compete, they actually do well. They were actually stronger than the U.S. farmers.
I would like to talk about last year in particular, because farmers paid a huge price for this marketing system. Last year the Canadian Wheat Board lost over $300 million in its trading activities. It was farmers who were forced to take these losses because the Wheat Board does not pay for its mistakes. It does not have to, because it has someone to do that for it and that is the western Canadian farmers. The Wheat Board managed to lose $90 million from its producer payment options. It is called a contingency fund. It has been set up to handle these producer payment option programs. It lost $90 million in its trading in that fund. Even worse than that, in its regular discretionary trading, it lost another $226 million. I guess the conclusion most western Canadian farmers have reached is that the Canadian Wheat Board is just too expensive for them.
We believe that producers deserve to see a public arm's length review of the Canadian Wheat Board. That would be reasonable. It lost $300 million in its trading activity. It would be reasonable to ask that there be some sort of review. The reason we have had to request that the Auditor General come in was evident today in committee.
Wheat Board representatives were actually at the agriculture committee today. They talked about a small report they had done about the risk management practices. When we asked if members of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food could have access to that report, they told us they would not let us have access to that report.
I do not know if I have been in a committee in the nine years that I have been here, where someone has refused to provide information to a committee. I cannot remember another time when that has happened.
We brought forward a motion to request that the board supply that report to the committee. The opposition worked very hard to stop that. In fact, Bill C-29 was to be discussed this afternoon and the opposition chose to filibuster the motion for us to get the report.