Canada's supply managed sector is breathing a sigh of relief with the passage of Bill C-202 which protects it from any further concessions in future trade talks.
An identical bill died on the order paper in the last session but this time moved quickly through Parliament and the Senate, before receiving Royal Assent last week.
The Dairy Farmers of Canada, Chicken Farmers of Canada, Egg Farmers of Canada, Turkey Farmers of Canada, and the Canadian Hatching Egg Producers issued a joint statement supporting the legislation.
"Canada’s dairy, poultry, and egg farmers welcome any effort aimed at ensuring no further supply managed concessions are made in trade negotiations, such as Bill C-202, An Act to amend the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Act (supply management). Dairy Farmers of Canada, Chicken Farmers of Canada, Egg Farmers of Canada, Turkey Farmers of Canada and the Canadian Hatching Egg Producers would like to thank all Parliamentarians for the adoption of this legislation.
During the recent election, all major parties expressed support for supply management and stated that it would be off the table in upcoming trade negotiations. The government reaffirmed this support in the Throne Speech, with the Prime Minister restating this commitment recently in the House of Commons. The passage of C-202 further underscores this clear commitment and we sincerely appreciate the steps taken in support of a strong, national food supply.
This strong commitment equips Canada to continue to expand market opportunities for Canadian agriculture and agri-food exports, while safeguarding the food sovereignty of our country. Our shared priority remains to work with all MPs and Senators as they continue to support Canadian agriculture and prioritize our national food sovereignty and security by keeping supply management and any other concessions impacting our sectors off the table. Ultimately, the outcome of trade negotiations is what holds importance for dairy, poultry and egg farmers and the nearly 431,000 jobs our combined sectors support."
However, other groups are raising concerns about what this will mean for future trade negotiations especially with the United States.
Kyle Larkin, the executive director of the Grain Growers of Canada is disappointed in the move saying grain, cattle and pork organizations are concerned the legislation ties the hands of Canadian trade negotiators.
"I would say we were disappointed with all Members of Parliament, Liberals and Conservatives, but especially those from rural communities. Those who represent grain farmers across the country, be they in the prairies or be they out east. They know how important international trade is to not only grain farmers but most farmers, be you a rancher, a cattle farmer, or a pork producer all of those who rely on the export oriented economy. We're concerned with Bill C-202 and together as a collective, we opposed it and collectively we have shared our disappointment with those Members of Parliament who gave their unanimous consent. My personal belief is that the consent of their constituents wasn't given, and so unanimous consent in the House of Commons certainly shouldn't have been given for this bill. It should have gone through the thorough review process that Bill C-282 went through, and unfortunately, it wasn't."
Larkin says politics gets in the way of good policy and feels politics certainly got in the way of a thorough review of Bill C-202 in the last Parliament.
"They had, you know, about 60-70-80 members of Parliament opposed this bill, a lot of those Members of Parliament still sit in the House of Commons, yet they didn't voice their displeasure or their opposition to this bill this time around. So certainly politics came through. There's also a theory, I think, in Ottawa that they didn't want to drag out this bill. They didn't want to draw too much attention to it with the concern that the American Administration and President Trump was going to come about it and start talking about dairy again. But what I can say is that President Trump hasn't stopped talking about dairy and hasn't stopped talking about supply management. So there's already a massive target on supply management. And I think that target has grown even more so now that Parliament has passed Bill C-202."
He says public servants at Global Affairs Canada and International Trade, they're going to have to abide by this legislation, so when they go internationally to try to get the best deals possible for Canadians and Canadian grain farmers, their hands are going to be tied.
"They won't be able to talk about, something that other countries are going to want to talk about, and then they won't be able to zoom in on some of the sensitive areas that possibly some countries in the Asia-Pacific have, certainly in Europe have. And then the biggest one obviously is of our concern is the United States and the possible renegotiation of CUSMA."