Agriculture committee  Very briefly, we are currently cooperating with the CFIA. We're accredited to do some work on their behalf, and I think that provides a benefit to producers.

Agriculture committee  I mean that while I'm not a deputy minister, my title is deputy head and I am directly responsible to the Minister of Agriculture. I submit my reports to the Minister of Agriculture; he tables those reports in the Parliament of Canada. That is the structure under which the Canadi

Agriculture committee  In some regard. He provides us with a statement of direction. There is another component, which we haven't talked about this morning, where we act as a quasi-judicial body. In that regard we are totally at arm's length from the minister, because in that role we are an arbitrato

Agriculture committee  No. Mr. Chair, that is not the case whatsoever. I have stayed entirely out of the political component of this issue. Even in the op-ed piece I didn't refer to political parties. I referred once to the minister, once to the House of Commons, but primarily stayed with responsibili

Agriculture committee  Thank you for the question. First of all, the agriculture sector is a large one, and the Canadian Grain Commission deals with the grains component of that sector. Whatever we do has to be within the mandate of the Canada Grain Act, either the current one or future acts as determ

Agriculture committee  I would agree with that. I would also agree that it fits in very nicely with our overall mandate to provide grain quality assurance for our customers, both Canadians and our customers abroad. It is an integral component of what we do. It's equally important to the grading work we

Agriculture committee  Thank you for the question. Obviously I disagree with the word “gag”. It was definitely not a gag order. That is a term that has been used by the media here in Parliament, I understand, but it is certainly not an accurate description of what occurred, as far as the commission is

Agriculture committee  No, absolutely not, Mr. Chair. We were being responsible in leadership in following the Values and Ethics Code that we are charged to follow. We were acting prudently, in line with the ruling of the Supreme Court of Canada. To do otherwise would have been irresponsible.

Agriculture committee  My position is called the deputy head. I'm the chief commissioner of the Canadian Grain Commission. That is a public service position, and it is in that light that I undertake my duties and fulfill my role.

Agriculture committee  One of the unknown gems of the Canadian Grain Commission is the research component. I don't know if members have been to the head office of the Grain Commission in Winnipeg, but you're certainly invited. We have a grain research laboratory that is doing exciting things, and it ha

Agriculture committee  Well, because we are in the marketplace and we are fighting for market share for our product. Canada needs to meet its own domestic requirements, and we need to export product in a world where there are other countries trying to sell to the same customers. We have to have the bes

Agriculture committee  We've had some excellent commissioners in the past and we will have some excellent ones in the future. I'm sure excellent people applied for the position. I was confident in my qualifications, and I was pleased to be accepted based on those qualifications.

Agriculture committee  I would agree with that, but there would be very few people in Canada with the unique background and abilities I bring to the table.

Agriculture committee  No. I think what is important are the skills and qualifications a candidate brings to the position. Let me just paint the picture for you of the three commissioners of the Canadian Grain Commission. I mentioned that all three of us have farm backgrounds. One of the commissioner

Agriculture committee  I wish I had more than five minutes to answer that. There's a lot of stuff there. On the op-ed piece, that was not a personal decision; it was a decision of senior management of the Canadian Grain Commission of which I was a part. The recommendation came to me, upon assuming my