Two sides to the milk debate
Re: U. S. president takes aim at Canadian dairy industry, April 19
I am a proud dairy farm owner, mother and businesswoman. Never before have I felt my family’s fut ure t hreatened as now. Donald Trump’s t i rades are not unexpected, but PC party l eadership hopeful Maxime Bernier also wanting to deregulate our family dairy farms … that hurts! My message to both Messrs. Trump and Bernier: Stop playing politics with our family dairy farms.
As family dairy farms, it feels like we have been poked in the eye. We work hard to be efficient and produce the best quality milk in the world. Yet, our future feels threatened both internally and externally by some who do not understand our realities or worse, choose to misrepresent them.
I appreciate t hat Just i n Trudeau has spoken out in support of our fair dairy system. And we also enjoyed a recent farm visit by PC leadership candidate Michael Chong, who likewise sees wisdom in our functional dairy supply chain.
In this crisis, we call on our political leaders to not give any concessions that impair our livelihoods and children’s farming future. Otherwise you will be hearing from us with a grassroots family farm fight.
And can you imagine 1,000 dairy farm businesswomen lobbying on Parliament Hill and at our grocery stores? Joanneke Kottelenberg, Hillsburgh, Ont.
Re: Defending Canadian farmers, Letters, April 25
The letter writer is being totally disingenuous when she claims that Canadian milk consumers don’ t whine about the price of milk. Farmers’ associations whine, and they do it loudly and constantly. Consumers may not do it audibly, but when I am asked to pay between $ 4 and $ 5 for bagged milk, and between $ 5 and $ 6( deposit included) now for a jug of milk, I am certainly more than aware of the price. The same holds true for cheese of all sorts, even the cheapest kinds for cooking.
But milk is a necessary staple, and long ago we realized, I imagine, that it is pointless, that nothing will change, and the ballot box and the always touchy relationships with Quebec must be blamed.
Farmers’ groups are well-organized, very wellfunded, they bombard everyone with advertising, threats, and, yes, whining about how hard the farmer’s lot is, how farmers are the keepers of the soil, and “Canadian” is the most used word in any of this, as though milk were not simply milk anywhere. Price controls, so the tale goes, somewhat ease his suffering, and no governments and few politicians would venture to risk votes, or another set- to with Quebec.
It would take much more than a Canadian politician to make any changes.
If Trump’s politics manage to force change in this area, more power to him. Roy Engfield, Ottawa