Bill C-18 committee  Thank you for your question. I think that in many ways, given the process put before farmers, their voices have been stifled. This is a government that said it was going to hold consultations with farmers shortly after it was re-elected. None of that occurred. The Canadian Wheat Board did talk with farmers.

Bill C-18 committee  And it's hundreds of millions of dollars, by the way.

Bill C-18 committee  —and if this legislation proceeds, taxpayers' dollars are going to be at risk here as well.

Bill C-18 committee  If this government had agreed to hold a plebiscite amongst farmers, farmers' dollars could have been saved—

Bill C-18 committee  On which bill?

Bill C-18 committee  To what part of the campaign specifically, or do you want them all?

Bill C-18 committee  I don't know where you get your numbers from, but those are the costs. We've also spent, or will spend, some limited money on a legal case.

Bill C-18 committee  All right. Well, first of all, I've always been of the view that the right—

Bill C-18 committee  I'll answer the question, thank you. I've always been of the view that the right way to settle this issue was to let farmers decide, to have a fair plebiscite, as required by the current act under section 47.1. When the minister refused to do that, we thought it was incumbent upon ourselves to allow farmers to have a direct say in the future of their own organization, which they pay for.

Bill C-18 committee  We won't know that until that case is complete.

Bill C-18 committee  My point is this—

Bill C-18 committee  Okay, thank you, Mr. Valeriote. One of the issues you mentioned, Mr. Hoback, was durum, and I think by your comments you were suggesting that the Canadian Wheat Board is a deterrent to value-adding here in Canada. I'm here to tell you that certainly isn't true. To give you just a few numbers, western Canada has nearly 40% of Canadian durum capacity; North Dakota, just across the way, has 29% of U.S. durum milling capacity.

Bill C-18 committee  Let me finish. Even if that were true—just assume for a minute that it were detrimental to establishing value-adding—the primary reason that maltsters and millers want producers out of the way is so they can access their raw product more cheaply. Let me quote from the annual report of the Alliance Grain Traders, who just announced or passed a plan in Regina: “Margin erosion is combated by negotiating lower prices from growers....”

Bill C-18 committee  I don't have the exact numbers, but my constituents and Minister Ritz's constituents are in the same area. He was elected as a Conservative candidate. I was elected as a single desk director. Obviously, many farmers who voted Conservative also support the Canadian Wheat Board.

Bill C-18 committee  All right, and I will be brief and concise. Mr. Hoback raised the issue of ideology. I always believed that this was an organization controlled and paid for by farmers and that they should be the ones who decide its future. When I spoke to farmers this summer all across the Prairies, I was very straight with them.