Agriculture committee  First, for those who have come to Ottawa, I want to apologize for my not being here. I was in the House on a point of privilege on the Canadian Wheat Board issue and the Federal Court decision yesterday, and then with members of the other parties in a scrum. I'll be limited in my questions because I haven't heard your presentations, but I will ask Mr.

Senate Reform Act  Speaker, the member referred to ways to add value to an appointed or an elected Senate to better protect minorities and regional interests. We saw what happened with the Canadian Wheat Board and the disadvantage many westerners felt. A regionally based Senate that had more strength to it, whether appointed or elected, would have protected the interests of western Canada.

Fair Representation Act  Time and time again the government has introduced time allocation which does not afford members of this chamber, whether they are government backbenchers or members of the opposition, time to participate and engage in the flawed legislation that is being brought forward. A good example of that is the Canadian Wheat Board legislation about which the Federal Court today said the government broke the law. Why has the government decided to use time allocation almost as a standard procedure nowadays in order to pass its legislation?

Canadian Wheat Board  Mr. Speaker, I am not quite sure. We will have to see what that means. The legislation is now in front of Parliament. I want to have a categorical assurance from the minister that she will simply say that the legislation will not be proceeded with as long as this matter is in front of the courts and as long as we have a judgment that says that the Minister of Agriculture, who is now chatting with the minister, has had a disregard for the rule of law in the way in which he has tried to implement this legislation.

Official Languages committee  Yesterday, unfortunately, Parliament abolished a major cooperative in western Canada. The Conservative majority decided to put an end to the Canadian Wheat Board, which was a major blow. In the greater Canadian francophone community, I hope your two organizations can work together. Although this is something I haven't seen in the past, I am nevertheless going to make that wish.

Marketing Freedom for Grain Farmers Act  However, there is also a large number who, for whatever reason, have voted not to go that way and they are concerned that if the Canadian Wheat Board is no longer a monopoly, they will be worse off. How does the government make the decision? Is it based on its friends saying that it is a good thing to have market freedom or is it based on a serious study that shows that overall, when this legislation is adopted, all farmers or at least the majority of farmers will be better off in this country?

Marketing Freedom for Grain Farmers Act  At the expense of farmers because, suddenly, Cargill and Viterra will become the middle people. That does not exist right now because they have the Canadian Wheat Board as their sales and marketing agent. Why does the member resist the comments of the Alliance Grain Traders? It stated that it will now be able to pay less for the grain. That is why it is setting up a pasta plant out west.

Marketing Freedom for Grain Farmers  Many farmers, many of them older, will not be able to make the transition. I have heard this from farmers who support getting rid of the Wheat Board. They have acknowledged to me that there are many farms that will fail because they will not have the resources now to step up and create their own sales and marketing department.

Marketing Freedom for Grain Farmers  Yet, I hear from so many Conservative MPs over there that they are not hearing from anybody about the need to keep the Wheat Board. What kind of nonsense is it that they would have us believe that nobody is emailing, writing or asking them to maintain the board? While the member may have received people in his riding office or he may have responded, he is welcome to come to my office and I will give him a list of the members in his party who would not respond to their constituents on this matter.

Business of Supply  We are going to have report stage next week, and I am hoping that the government can change its mind and adopt some of the amendments. With regard to the Canadian Wheat Board, it was not a matter of procedure. Again, that was just rammed through. These farmers are working, and they do not have the time to come here and be notified because everything has to be rammed through.

Agriculture committee  The railways have been getting away with unbelievably poor service, gouging western Canadian farmers, which the Canadian Wheat Board showed was by many millions. The government continues to sit on that service review rather than acting, so maybe the parliamentary secretary could take that back to the government and we could get it done.

Points of Order  If we were to talk to the individual who held up the signs and shouted from the gallery, he would tell us about the respect that he has lost for democracy as a result of the government's actions in terms of how it is basically doing away with the Canadian Wheat Board. Those individuals sat here while the minister answered questions. I can assure the House that, from their perspective, they do not believe the minister's answers were fully honest, if I can put it that way.

Canada Water Preservation Act  The present government has not, by any measure, shown it is willing to fight for Canadian natural resources as it kowtows to U.S. protectionism and gives away our competitive advantages, like the Canadian Wheat Board, and puts our supply management at risk. The proposed Canada water preservation act is a necessary measure to backstop our fresh water. The bill would prohibit the removal of fresh water in bulk from one aquatic basin to another by any means.

Points of Order  One of the key points the member raised is that there are so many questions that remain unanswered. There are a lot of unanswered questions. I have here the remarks from the Australian wheat board which was somewhat similar to Canada's at one point in time but is now gone. Jock Munro, a farmer, said: We estimate we have lost $4 billion as growers since the wheat industry was deregulated three years ago.

Points of Order  I wonder if she could explain to the House what several value-added processors or proposed processors mean when they say that they must negotiate grain prices directly with farmers rather than through the Canadian Wheat Board, because they, the processors, need to get lower grain input costs in order for their operations to be profitable? What exactly do they mean by the importance of negotiating directly with producers to get a lower price for grain?