Agriculture committee  It depends on how it's painted. If you believe that, have a plebiscite, a fair and honest and open plebiscite.

Agriculture committee  Mr. Chair, in terms of the timing, could I ask if you would help us? Could you give us a flag when you'd like us to wrap up quickly? I would find that helpful, because I don't want to take up the time of—

Agriculture committee  Thank you. You have heard me say several times that we believe a plebiscite should be held, that it is the democratic and right thing to do. But any plebiscite or any survey question that is asked needs to be clear, honest, and honourable. That means it has to respect the best evidence that we have.

Agriculture committee  Very briefly, no. With all the evidence we have seen, the best analyses of our economists tell us very clearly that they could not coexist. You either will have a Canadian Wheat Board or you will have another grain company. And I don't care what you call it. You can call it the Canadian Wheat Board, but it's just another grain company.

Agriculture committee  I think the first question was why the folks who are opposed to it are opposed to the Canadian Wheat Board. When I look at this, I see why grain companies and grain marketers will be opposed to the Canadian Wheat Board. Their goal is to maximize the profit and the return, if they're publicly traded, to their shareholders or to their owners.

Agriculture committee  I can tell you that I also have numbers on the fact that we have seen more development here. There has been more development proportionately than what they get across the U.S. border, where things are supposed to be open and free. Over the past fifteen years, the Canadian milling and malting capacity has grown while U.S. capacity has declined.

Agriculture committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Ritz. Good afternoon to everyone on the committee and those who are attending. I thank you for this opportunity to appear before the committee on an issue that is so vital to western Canadian farmers. I want to begin this afternoon by stating the Government of Saskatchewan's position on the Canadian Wheat Board.