Bill C-18 committee  It will be five minutes by each.

Bill C-18 committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. First of all, I need to correct the record. I am a farmer from northern Alberta. I was a former Wheat Board director. Thank you. I represented the region that included all of the area north and west of Edmonton, including the British Columbia Peace Regio

Bill C-18 committee  No, I was finished.

Bill C-18 committee  Thank you for the question. The barley plebiscite that the government conducted in the past represented choice for farmers. It gave them three different options, including a voluntary one, and overwhelmingly they chose choice. In this last one, a lot of the farm community just s

Bill C-18 committee  What you're talking about, though, is continuing on the road of government control of the wheat and barley industry through an act of Parliament. That's a question for the government of the country on the day, whether they feel this is a strategic position that they need to impos

Bill C-18 committee  I went to the Wheat Board, as I have done in many organizations in my career, to contribute, to make a difference, and to try to move agriculture forward. I'd always heard about the single desk premiums. I was a little skeptical, because these should translate into profitability

Bill C-18 committee  The board of directors has a code of conduct, and you probably have one here at Parliament as well. There is a set of things in that code of conduct, and there is a governance committee that judges the directors on the basis of any complaint that comes forward relating to our ind

Bill C-18 committee  A director's responsibilities are very clear. They are the duty of loyalty and duty of care for the corporation.

Bill C-18 committee  Yes, the well-being of the corporation.

Bill C-18 committee  At the end of the day, the well-being of the corporation is represented, in my view, by the support of farmers for the corporation and the value that brings to the corporation. I saw the support of farmers for the corporation in the 60% range. To me, for a monopoly, that's not a

Bill C-18 committee  Let me put it to you this way. I farmed for 30 years. I saw a significant number of things the Canadian Wheat Board did that--

Bill C-18 committee  Let me finish. You're asking about what value I--

Bill C-18 committee  I'll answer your question. I saw things the Wheat Board was doing that I felt were taking value away from farmers. I thought I could contribute value to the Wheat Board by bringing my opinions to the table and have them incorporated into the policies of the organization. The org

Bill C-18 committee  From what I've seen in the last four years, I am completely comfortable with what's in this bill for the transition phase. The reason for that is we have a group of ideological bullies running this organization.

Bill C-18 committee  That's a good question. In my time at the Wheat Board, I worked in the best interests of the organization and to fulfill my duties as a director. I had the opportunity to attend the Directors College in my term. It was a good organization and very clear on what a director's role