39th Parliament, 2nd Session

Edited Hansard • Number 038
Monday, January 28, 2008

STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS

Canadian Wheat Board

Mr. Garry Breitkreuz (Yorkton-Melville, CPC):
Mr. Speaker, as I drove the back roads of Yorkton-Melville during the Christmas break, I was concerned with the growing unrest within the grain farming community.

Many farmers are telling me they want to choose for themselves where they may market their grain. Being forced to turn their grain over to the Canadian Wheat Board is viewed as unfair. They point out to me that a recent Pool Return Outlook reveals that our western barley growers get about $2 per bushel less than North Dakota farmers just a stone's throw away. A huge differential in wheat prices also exists.

Grain producers ask me, “What kind of democracy forces farmers to sell their product back to a government agency for a discounted price?” Furthermore they ask, “Why must our western farmers sell to the Canadian Wheat Board while eastern farmers can sell their own product to the highest bidder?”

Farmers in Yorkton-Melville tell me that if they were free to market their own grain, many other government funding programs could become unnecessary.

Prairie farmers must contend with drought, flooding, wind and pests. They should not also have to battle with the Canadian Wheat Board.

* * *