Canadian Wheat Board  Mr. Speaker, it seems to me not unusual that a commissioner of the Canadian Wheat Board would from time to time defend the policies and practices of the Canadian Wheat Board. That seems to be quite logical in the ordinary course of events of being a commissioner of the wheat boar

Canadian Wheat Board  Mr. Speaker, the short answer to the hon. gentleman's question is no because I have no information before me at the present time that would justify any of his allegations.

Canadian Wheat Board  Mr. Speaker, I have already indicated on a number of occasions that I will be providing the opportunity this winter for farmers to become engaged in a discussion about the marketing systems that they regard to be most appropriate and in their interest. In the course of that kind

Canadian Wheat Board  Mr. Speaker, to the best of my knowledge the chief commissioner and a number of the commissioners of the Canadian Wheat Board participated in public meetings during the fall. They discussed a broad variety of aspects pertaining to the marketing of western Canadian grain. To the b

Grain Transportation  Mr. Speaker, the hon. gentleman in asking the question is overlooking the impact of the soon to be implemented General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and particularly the new World Trade Organization which brings to bear some important disciplines in the world on the use of expor

Agriculture  Mr. Speaker, I point out to the hon. member that it was a previous Liberal government that provided the first electoral process with respect to the Canadian Wheat Board, that is the election of the advisory committee. As far as future changes that might take place within the cor

Agriculture  Mr. Speaker, as usual in the rather simplistic approach of the Reform Party its members are missing a very fundamental point. It is important to make intelligent, thoughtful decisions after everyone, in a fully democratic manner, has had an opportunity to discuss the matter and

Canadian Wheat Board  Mr. Speaker, I am sure that very interesting proposition is one of the ideas that will be discussed during the winter in the forum we are conducting with respect to marketing systems in western Canada, particularly the operations of the Canadian Wheat Board. Other marketing agen

Canadian Wheat Board  Mr. Speaker, I probably spend the majority of my time as minister of agriculture listening very carefully to farmers. From time to time they are represented by their official organizations. On other occasions and very valuably, individual farmers take the opportunity to raise co

Agriculture  Mr. Speaker, it is difficult to know exactly what the hon. member is getting at, except I have an inkling it has to do with marketing systems in western Canada. Obviously the government believes in democracy. With respect to the issue of marketing systems, as the hon. member kno

Agriculture  The simple reason, Mr. Speaker, that the decision with respect to special crops takes some time is that there are a good many farmers in western Canada who disagree with the proposals that have been advanced. It is important to thoroughly analyse all of the various options that

Grain Transportation  Mr. Speaker, I dealt with that subject at some length in a speech I delivered last week at the annual convention of the United Grain Growers in Calgary. In order to save time, I will be happy to send the hon. member a copy of my speech. I will tell him what is happening at the p

Agriculture  Mr. Speaker, the hon. member has raised two issues in her question, one having to do with the U.S. countervailing duty on live Canadian hogs exported to the United States, and the other relating to the risk of pseudorabies in U.S. hogs imported into Canada. It is important to no

International Trade  Mr. Speaker, there are two parts to the hon. member's question. One of those relates to the wheat agreement recently signed between Canada and the United States. The hon. member characterizes it as a bad deal. He ought to know that the volume of access that we have secured by th

Agriculture  Mr. Speaker, the hon. member's aggravation about this particular situation can be exceeded only by my own. The federal government is very disappointed by the U.S. government's continued use of the export enhancement program, which is a major market destabilizing export subsidy.