UNITED FRONT ON FARM TRADE
Leaders defend supply management
LONGUEUIL Quebec’s political leaders vowed Friday to protect the province’s supply management system as Canada and the United States continue negotiations over a new trade agreement.
In a rare move during an election campaign, the leaders deviated from their itineraries to mount a common front and send a message to Ottawa and Washington that they would stand behind their agricultural producers, at a news conference organized by a Quebec farmers’ union. The Union des producteurs agricoles (UPA) says 116,000 jobs rely on the supply management system in the province.
Incumbent premier and Liberal Leader Philippe Couillard joined Parti Québécois Leader JeanFrançois Lisée and Québec solidaire spokesperson Manon Massé for the announcement. Coalition Avenir Québec Leader François Legault could not attend, because his caravan was in Chicoutimi Thursday night. He was represented by his agriculture critic, Sylvie D’Amours. Legault spoke to the farmers’ union president by phone prior to the conference, but his absence was mentioned by all his political opponents, who noted they managed to find time in their schedules to attend the meeting, at the invitation of the union. One of his candidates suggested the CAQ leader had been “trapped” by the Liberals, who announced they would attend late Thursday.
Union president Marcel Groleau called it a “historic moment,” as the U.S. government is becoming increasingly aggressive in its trade negotiations. Early reports on Friday indicated the talks were not going well.
“We need to work all together,” Groleau said. “Why is supply management so important for us? Forty per cent of the agricultural products made in Quebec come from farms that benefit from supply management. In Canada, the number is 20 per cent.”
Quebec was already forced to give concessions under the European and Trans-Pacific trade agreements, Groleau said, while other industries, particularly Ontario’s automotive industry, were spared. Quebec does not want to be targeted again.
Couillard said that if he is reelected, he will not table the text of a new NAFTA in the National Assembly unless it is approved by Quebec dairy farmers or entrepreneurs.
“I believe we all found it essential, for those of us who are here today, to support our agricultural producers,” Couillard said, sending a barb in the direction of Legault.
Earlier Friday morning, Legault invited several dairy producers to a last-minute meeting in a hotel room where he held a conference call with UPA president Groleau.
The CAQ leader sent his regrets that he couldn’t be in Longueuil.
“I want you to know we’re going to fight. And I want to send a very clear message to Justin Trudeau: there can be no compromise on supply management,” he said. “If ever he does (compromise), there will be an enormous political price to pay in Quebec. You can’t trade us for advantages in Ontario’s car industry.”
Lisée said it was important for the leaders to present a united front, which was why he rearranged his schedule to be in Longueuil Friday morning instead of in Baie-Comeau as planned.
“Our interests are at play here,” he said. “I’m glad that there are three party leaders here to answer the call and tell negotiators, ‘You won’t get anything past us, because we’re united against concessions that will hurt Quebec.’ ”
Québec solidaire’s Massé said her party supports farmers and supply management. But, she added, the party believes trade agreements like NAFTA are antidemocratic and negotiated behind closed doors where Quebec does not have a voice.
“That’s why we’re here today,” she said.
“We’re at the mercy of a Canadian government who — before yesterday — wanted to shove a pipeline down our throat. Long live Quebec independence.”
Couillard had initially stated he would not sign a joint letter with party leaders supporting supply management, then recanted, but pledged never to stand side by side with them publicly. Late Thursday, after the CAQ had released its agenda for Friday showing they would be in the Saguenay region, the Liberals announced they were heading to the farmers’ news conference.
The farmers’ union took out advertisements in the newspapers Friday morning depicting a milk carton, a chicken and an egg, all sporting U.S. President Donald Trump’s distinctive hairdo, with the tag line: “American interests should never be placed ahead of ours.”
The union’s advertisement said supply management concessions could threaten 50 per cent of the province’s dairy farmers, 90 per cent of its poultry industry and more than 100,000 jobs in Quebec.
Couillard was close-mouthed on the details of a conference call held Thursday with Trudeau and Canada’s other premiers regarding trade talks with the United States. All parties promised “total silence,” he said. “We are at a very delicate moment in the negotiations.”
“What I can tell you is the main preoccupations of Quebec are known,” he said. The issues of supply management for farmers, cultural exceptions and maintaining dispute resolution mechanisms were presented during the conversation, he said.