Agriculture committee  If you want an example of how it can work, look to oats.

Agriculture committee  Mr. Chairman, Mr. Boshcoff, the suggestion is that if you had, as you put it, the “destruction of the Canadian Wheat Board”, which I disagree with.... The vision we have is of a new entity coming out of this. It's a new generation cooperative type of structure that actually has

Agriculture committee  I believe this would actually add to that, because those small line companies are looking for partners. I should say that I know very well several of the independent grain companies in our province and several of the independent grain companies that operate in some of the other p

Agriculture committee  I don't have to submit any documentation. If you want to know whether the Canadian Wheat Board could operate right next to a separate system, all you have to do is look at Ontario. Ontario is not part of the Canadian Wheat Board designated area. And every year, it exports about a

Agriculture committee  We'll give you an analysis of what the actual value-added growth is in the wheat and barley sector, and a comparison to the value-added growth in the non-board sectors.

Agriculture committee  Taken in individual context, it's a very important question.

Agriculture committee  Well, no, I want my farmers to own that value-added. I want them to be part of that value chain, and that's what we're working towards. I have spent 23 years in the export business. A lot of the pasta plants that were started in western Canada have failed because they weren't com

Agriculture committee  I guess I would ask the honourable member, Mr. Chairman, if he believes that 67% is a small minority. If that was the collective voice in his constituency, would he believe he should do that or what the 33% are asking him to do? In our province--and I can't speak to plebiscites

Agriculture committee  Do you want me to organize those for you?

Agriculture committee  One of the things that drove me nuts as a primary processor and a producer many years ago was the fact that I had to sell my barley to the Wheat Board and then buy it back to reprocess it. That in and of itself is a ridiculous system to have. I have to respond to Minister Wartm

Agriculture committee  Actually, I don't have those numbers in front of me. When the survey was brought up, I mentioned that I know the results.

Agriculture committee  We're currently on new generation cooperatives in our biofuels and beef-packing facilities. I believe there are opportunities for new generation cooperatives. These are producer-owned venture capital companies that would invest in the value chains they're going to be in. It could

Agriculture committee  I see huge opportunities.

Agriculture committee  There's a lot of discussion here about our best information and all those sorts of things. Just as I was accused of coming up with various pieces of information, there's no proof in any of the numbers that are being espoused that the Wheat Board would be in demise if they lost th

Agriculture committee  In fact, we did hold a referendum in 1995, and we've also continued to tap into the surveys of producers across the province. For the information of the committee, the referendum in 1995 was a 67% vote for choice. Indeed, the support for choice amongst barley growers in Alberta,