Latest news with #BillC-202
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Opinion: We needed to get rid of the dairy cartel, not sanctify it in law
By Lawrence L. Herman It never ends. On June 5, Yves-François Blanchet, the Bloc leader in Parliament, tabled Bill C-202, a private member's bill that's yet another regrettable effort to enshrine Canada's Soviet-style supply management system in the statute books. It legislates against any increased imports of dairy products, eggs and poultry — sectors the system protects from foreign competition — under Canada's current or future trade agreements. The Senate fast-tracked the bill, passing it on June 17 after it sailed through the House with virtually unanimous support. It's an unprecedented piece of protectionist legislation that favours this one group of farmers. C-202 is virtually identical to Bill C-282, which a Bloc member tabled in 2021 during the past Parliament. It was passed by the Commons in June 2023 and was still being examined in the Senate last November when Donald Trump was elected. It had been stalled there for almost two years and — mercifully — died on the order paper when this spring's election was called. As well as preventing imports, supply management is a quintessential barrier to internal trade, designed to protect local producers against out-of-province competition, whether in dairy, eggs or poultry. Under the influence of the well-financed dairy lobby, the Trudeau government and all the other parties supported Bill C-282 as it made its way through the House. This time round, however, it's hard to see how the Liberals could have voted in favour of a blatantly protectionist bill completely at odds with the Carney government's core policy of dismantling interprovincial trade barriers — and doing so before July 1, no less. While Blanchet and his Bloc colleagues have remained focused on currying favour with Quebec dairy farmers, there has been a sea change in the geopolitical context, most notably a dramatic deterioration in the Canada-U.S. relationship, with Trump targeting dairy import restrictions among the many trade assaults he's been directing at Canada. For Parliament to raise this protectionist fence higher is downright foolish — as was emphasized by experts over and over again during the debate on C-282 — and would seriously jeopardize our relations with the U.S. at this very sensitive juncture. That alone should have consigned C-202 to the Parliamentary dustbin. But some other factors that are not always fully aired should outrage Canadians when the facts are better understood. Consider the dairy sector as an illustration. First, to make supply management work, over the past 50 years governments at both federal and provincial levels have layered complexities onto the system, creating a mind-numbing process run by vast bureaucracies from coast to coast. This newspaper explained it all in a report compiled by staff about a year ago. At the top of the structure is the Canadian Dairy Commission (CDC) and its Canadian Milk Supply Management Committee (CMSMC). Each year, the CMSMC sets the allowable production volume for Canada as whole and the Commission then divides this up among the provinces, who parcel out the quota to their own producers, distributors, processors and consumers. The CDC then sets the farm-gate price for milk under what's called the National Pricing Formula. While consumers may think of milk as milk, under supply management milk is divided into five different classes and many sub-classes, based on what the milk is used for, whether as a consumer good or for further processing. The CDC applies the National Pricing Formula to set the annual farm-gate price in each class, with the price being different for each milk component — butter fat, proteins and solids. Provincial marketing boards then take all of this and, after even more consultations with industry players, determine who in their province is allowed to produce what, as well as where and to whom it can be sold, in what volume and at what price in that particular province. This goes on, year after year, involving scads of officials. Other industries, meanwhile, manage to decide prices and quantities without regulators' help. The point here isn't to go through all of these bureaucratic intricacies — details can be found in the FP report already referred to and on the CDC website — but to illustrate that in diary alone, the system is inordinately complex, difficult to penetrate, and run by large bureaucracies across the country. All this for the benefit of a few more than 9,000 dairy farms, compared, say, with Canada's 71,000 beef farms and 7,400 pig farms, which operate on the open market and receive no such guarantees. These numbers alone illustrate the inequities of this complex, over-staffed and costly system that exists to protect a small but highly favoured fraction of Canada's agricultural producers. When it comes to who runs the system, there's another set of issues that should outrage Canadians. It's run by insiders, persons with direct connections to the dairy industry, the same industry the system is supposed to regulate. For example, the CDC board is made up of persons with dairy industry connections, the chair being a dairy farmer himself. The Supply Management Committee is also weighted with industry players. At the provincial level, there's the same problem. All members of the Ontario Milk Marketing Board, for example, are dairy farmers, a pattern replicated in the other provinces. It's hard to see where the public interest comes in. Jack Mintz: Don't expect big economic gains from lower interprovincial barriers Bjorn Lomborg: Freer trade isn't dead yet, which is a good thing for all of us All of this should have led to a derailment of Bill C-202 and for the Carney government to start to phase out supply management as an outdated, discriminatory, protectionist system, contrary to the public interest. Though C-202 has passed, the government could hold up the proclamation needed to bring it into force pending further developments in our trading relations. In the meantime, Canadians should be concerned both about supply management itself and about the outsized influence its lobbyists have in Ottawa. Lawrence L. Herman, international counsel at Herman & Associates, is a senior fellow at the C.D. Howe Institute. Sign in to access your portfolio
Toronto Sun
2 days ago
- Business
- Toronto Sun
LILLEY: Carney's team putting up roadblocks to trade deal with U.S.
Supply management bill, Digital Services Tax angering Americans across political spectrum Get the latest from Brian Lilley straight to your inbox Prime Minister Mark Carney and U.S. President Donald Trump engage in a meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., Tuesday, May 6, 2025. Photo by Adrian Wyld / THE CANADIAN PRESS Canada's leadership can't help but shoot itself in the foot when it comes to negotiating a new trade deal with the Americans. We continue to cling to a digital services tax that has angered all sides in Washington and Tuesday passed a bill making it illegal to negotiate anything related to supply management. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Why not just flip the bird at the Americans and quit negotiating now? On Tuesday, the Senate passed Bill C-202, a bill brought forward by the Bloc Quebecois that makes it a law that negotiators at the Department of Foreign Affairs are not allowed to put supply management on the table. That means no negotiations for quotas, prices for quotas or market access to the chicken, egg or dairy sector are allowed as part of any trade deal. Before we get into why this is such a horrible idea, consider that the sponsor of this bill is Yves-Francois Blanchet, the leader of the Bloc Quebecois. Canada's trade policy has now been surrendered, handcuffed you might say, by the leader of the party that wants to break up Canada and who claims that Canada is not a real country. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Now, lots of Canadians would hop up and down and say they don't want American milk in Canada and that they want to keep supply management. The truth is the Americans are not looking to sell us milk for sale in a carton and they don't want to end supply management. Read More What the Americans are looking for is greater access to supplying our market with either cheese or industrial milk for cheese production. They thought they had negotiated greater access through the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement, but then Canadian officials blocked them immediately and the Biden administration took us to a trade tribunal claiming we were violating the trade agreement. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. They won one round at the tribunal, we won another and the trade dispute continues. Now, we've made it law that dairy can't be discussed in trade negotiations. We are tying our hands behind our backs in trade talks to make fewer than 10,000 dairy farmers happy, while annoying every other industry. Kyle Larkin, executive director of the Grain Growers of Canada, blasted MPs and senators for making Bill C-202 the first bill passed by Parliament at a time when everyone says they want to grow Canada's economy and expand international trade. 'With critical trade negotiations and renegotiations ahead, including with our largest trading partner, the United States, passing Bill C-202 sends the wrong message internationally,' Larkin said. 'For grain farmers who rely on access to international markets, the result will be less ambitious trade agreements, fewer export opportunities, and slower economic growth at home.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. It's not just other farmers who are annoyed with the dairy farmers, others in the industry are upset but don't think they can speak up publicly against the powerful dairy cartel. RECOMMENDED VIDEO On the Digital Services Tax, Canadian investors – including pension funds that many of us rely on – could take a big hit if this tax isn't repealed. At a time when we are jumping up and down about the Americans imposing unfair and unjustified tariffs and costs on our goods and services, we are doing the same with the DST. This tax targets American tech companies we all use — like Amazon, Google, Facebook, Netflix and Airbnb — and will require them to pay big money to Ottawa. The Americans, on both sides of the aisle, oppose this tax and see it as unfair and an attack on their tech companies. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. It will also impact many Canadian small and medium-size businesses, those selling products on Amazon, those advertising on Google or Facebook or people driving for Uber; they will all end up getting hit with the cost of this tax. Not only is the tax levy going to cost these tech companies and the small businesses that rely on them, but it is retroactive to Jan. 1, 2022, and the first payments are due at the end of this month. The DST is a major trade irritant for the Americans and it is not just an issue for Trump, but like dairy is something that upsets the Democrats as well. On both issues, the Americans believe that we are in violation of our existing trade agreements. Yet as we ask for special treatment and favours on tariffs, we are offering little in return in the eyes of the Americans. If this persists, we won't be getting a trade deal with the Americans or seeing tariffs lifted anytime soon. NHL Canada Editorial Cartoons Soccer Canada
Ottawa Citizen
2 days ago
- Business
- Ottawa Citizen
Senate passes bill to protect supply management from any future trade deals
OTTAWA — The Bloc Québécois' long and often rocky road to protect supply management from any concessions in future trade negotiations has come to a successful end. The Senate has adopted Bill C-202, making it the first bill set to receive royal assent in the new session of Parliament. Article content 'We won,' said Bloc Leader Yves-François Blanchet enthusiastically, hours after the Senate adopted his party's bill. Article content Article content Article content C-202 sought to amend the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Act to prevent the minister from 'making a commitment' that would increase the tariff rate quota for dairy, poultry, or eggs in trade negotiations. It would also prevent tariff reductions on these products when they are imported in excess. Article content Article content The Bloc wanted to strengthen the long-standing federal government policy to maintain Canada's supply management system, including its production control, pricing mechanisms and import controls. Article content The House of Commons unanimously passed the bill last week and the Senate did so 'with division' on Tuesday evening. Article content 'The notion of unanimity really weighed heavily. It was all parties and the unanimity of elected officials. So, everyone who speaks for Canadians and Quebecers was in favour,' Blanchet said at a press conference. Article content Article content Bloc Québécois MP Yves Perron has been championing this bill for over five years. In an interview with the National Post, Perron expressed his pride. Article content Article content 'We have just demonstrated that the Bloc Québécois serves a purpose. I think we are capable of moving forward on issues and on a scale that is extremely positive for Quebec, but also positive for the rest of Canada,' he said. 'And the rest of Canada has finally understood this.' Article content But the Grain Growers of Canada argued that 'Parliament chose to prioritize one group of farmers over another,' while the Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance said it was 'deeply concerned' by the adoption of 'a flawed piece of legislation that sets a troubling precedent, undermining Canada's longstanding commitment to the rules-based international trading system.' Article content Even if the Senate passed the bill, many senators still had some reservations on Tuesday. In a speech in the Senate, Alberta Sen. Paula Simons expressed concerns about what Bill C-202 means for national unity because it was from a Bloc MP, which advocates for the separation of Quebec from the rest of Canada.
Calgary Herald
2 days ago
- Business
- Calgary Herald
Senate passes bill to protect supply management from any future trade deals
OTTAWA — The Bloc Québécois' long and often rocky road to protect supply management from any concessions in future trade negotiations has come to a successful end. The Senate has adopted Bill C-202, making it the first bill set to receive royal assent in the new session of Parliament. Article content 'We won,' said Bloc Leader Yves-François Blanchet enthusiastically, hours after the Senate adopted his party's bill. Article content Article content Article content C-202 sought to amend the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Act to prevent the minister from 'making a commitment' that would increase the tariff rate quota for dairy, poultry, or eggs in trade negotiations. It would also prevent tariff reductions on these products when they are imported in excess. Article content Article content The Bloc wanted to strengthen the long-standing federal government policy to maintain Canada's supply management system, including its production control, pricing mechanisms and import controls. Article content The House of Commons unanimously passed the bill last week and the Senate did so 'with division' on Tuesday evening. Article content 'The notion of unanimity really weighed heavily. It was all parties and the unanimity of elected officials. So, everyone who speaks for Canadians and Quebecers was in favour,' Blanchet said at a press conference. Article content Article content Bloc Québécois MP Yves Perron has been championing this bill for over five years. In an interview with the National Post, Perron expressed his pride. Article content 'We have just demonstrated that the Bloc Québécois serves a purpose. I think we are capable of moving forward on issues and on a scale that is extremely positive for Quebec, but also positive for the rest of Canada,' he said. 'And the rest of Canada has finally understood this.' Article content But the Grain Growers of Canada argued that 'Parliament chose to prioritize one group of farmers over another,' while the Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance said it was 'deeply concerned' by the adoption of 'a flawed piece of legislation that sets a troubling precedent, undermining Canada's longstanding commitment to the rules-based international trading system.' Article content Even if the Senate passed the bill, many senators still had some reservations on Tuesday. In a speech in the Senate, Alberta Sen. Paula Simons expressed concerns about what Bill C-202 means for national unity because it was from a Bloc MP, which advocates for the separation of Quebec from the rest of Canada.
Vancouver Sun
2 days ago
- Business
- Vancouver Sun
Senate passes bill to protect supply management from any future trade deals
OTTAWA — The Bloc Québécois' long and often rocky road to protect supply management from any concessions in future trade negotiations has come to a successful end. The Senate has adopted Bill C-202, making it the first bill set to receive royal assent in the new session of Parliament. 'We won,' said Bloc Leader Yves-François Blanchet enthusiastically, hours after the Senate adopted his party's bill. C-202 sought to amend the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Act to prevent the minister from 'making a commitment' that would increase the tariff rate quota for dairy, poultry, or eggs in trade negotiations. It would also prevent tariff reductions on these products when they are imported in excess. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. The Bloc wanted to strengthen the long-standing federal government policy to maintain Canada's supply management system, including its production control, pricing mechanisms and import controls. The House of Commons unanimously passed the bill last week and the Senate did so 'with division' on Tuesday evening. 'The notion of unanimity really weighed heavily. It was all parties and the unanimity of elected officials. So, everyone who speaks for Canadians and Quebecers was in favour,' Blanchet said at a press conference. Bloc Québécois MP Yves Perron has been championing this bill for over five years. In an interview with the National Post, Perron expressed his pride. 'We have just demonstrated that the Bloc Québécois serves a purpose. I think we are capable of moving forward on issues and on a scale that is extremely positive for Quebec, but also positive for the rest of Canada,' he said. 'And the rest of Canada has finally understood this.' But the Grain Growers of Canada argued that 'Parliament chose to prioritize one group of farmers over another,' while the Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance said it was 'deeply concerned' by the adoption of 'a flawed piece of legislation that sets a troubling precedent, undermining Canada's longstanding commitment to the rules-based international trading system.' Even if the Senate passed the bill, many senators still had some reservations on Tuesday. In a speech in the Senate, Alberta Sen. Paula Simons expressed concerns about what Bill C-202 means for national unity because it was from a Bloc MP, which advocates for the separation of Quebec from the rest of Canada. 'It does seem strange to allow a separatist party to set Canada's national trade policy to such an extent, and at the expense of Western Canadian producers and agricultural exporters,' she said. Parliament extensively studied an earlier version of the bill during the last legislature. A Senate committee heard from numerous witnesses, including government trade negotiators. 'From a trade negotiating perspective, the passage of the bill would certainly narrow the range of concessions that could be made to reach an agreement,' said Doug Forsyth, the director general of market access and trade controls bureau at Global Affairs Canada in a Senate testimony . 'I think it would be reasonable to expect future negotiating partners to adjust their own approach to negotiations with Canada,' he added. The previous version of this bill made headlines last fall when the Bloc threatened to bring down the Trudeau government if it wasn't passed alongside another bill. It was ultimately passed by nearly 80 per cent of the House of Commons in June 2023, despite opposition from some Conservative MPs. However, the Senate never passed it, due to prorogation and political maneuvering by two senators, Peter Boehm and Peter Harder. Harder was particularly opposed to the bill stating in 2024 that 'supply management has enjoyed religious-like devotion' in recent years. He also characterized the bill as 'both reckless and dangerous' that could 'do significant harm to Canada's interests.' 'I suppose congratulations are also in order for the strong dairy lobby because they played no small part in this. It's the same dairy lobby that is financed and operated on the backs of Canadians through supply-managed goods themselves,' he said at the time . In an interview with National Post on Wednesday, Sen. Harder said he believes the Senate's role is to defer to the elected legislature, even if he stood by his previous statements. 'I'm an institutionalist and I believe that the Senate should not hold itself in opposition to the House of Commons,' he said. In Quebec, the Union des producteurs agricoles (UPA), which represents roughly 42,000 Quebec farmers, celebrated the adoption of the bill, claiming 'dairy, egg, and poultry producers have long awaited this necessary and legitimate protection for their livelihood.' 'All parliamentarians and senators who supported this bill, as well as its previous versions, can congratulate themselves on having strengthened the country's food security,' said Martin Caron, the UPA president. With files from Simon Tuck Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our newsletters here .
