Mr. Speaker, I rise to present a petition signed by many western Canadian grain and barley farmers, the very farmers to whom the government is currently refusing to listen. They are concerned with the government's ideological plan to kill the Canadian Wheat Board without first holding a plebiscite of its membership as it is required to do by section 47.1 of the Canadian Wheat Board Act.
Western Canadian farmers' livelihoods are at risk should they lose the clout of the Canadian Wheat Board to set the best price for their grain, negotiate fair treatment and prices from the railways, and lower transportation costs among the many services it provides.
The petitioners demand that the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food honour their wishes as expressed democratically through a plebiscite. As members know, the government failed to hold a plebiscite. As a result, the farmers held their own plebiscite and a full 62% of wheat farmers and 51% of barley farmers asked that the government maintain the single-desk system. This petition asks the government to honour their wishes.