‘Facts, not rhetoric’
Politicians say dairy supply management is fair to everyone
A P.E.I. MP says the problem that the United States has with the Canadian dairy industry comes from its own dairy policy and not from Canada.
Wayne Easter was in Washington when Donald Trump was in Wisconsin blasting the Canadian supply management system saying it was unfair to American dairy producers.
He said he really wasn’t surprised at the recent comments made by the U.S. president.
“It was a reaction to pressure from dairy farmers in Wisconsin and New York. The Canadian position stays the same. We are not going to react to their reaction. We have a sound dairy system in Canada.
“Their problem is internal and they’re suffering the effects of over-production,” Easter said.
Canada allows 10 per cent of foreign dairy production imports while the U.S. only allows three per cent. The U.S. has a highly subsidized dairy system with a $400 million surplus with Canada.
The Canadian system is fair to both the producer and consumer. On the trade level, Canada operates fairly when it comes to our policy and international trade rules, Easter said.
“We intend to maintain it. As we go forward here, we have a good system in Canada and we will deal with facts, not rhetoric.”
The dairy industry provides a lot of jobs and strengthens the economy on P.E.I. and there are spin-offs from our system that provides reasonable and fair prices, said Easter.
“We produce some of the best genetics in the world. We sell livestock across the world and people can invest in that because of the security of our prices.”
Meanwhile, the minister of agriculture and fisheries for P.E.I, says if Donald Trump wants a level playing field, Canada would win this fight once again.
Alan McIsaac said Canada has done nothing wrong when it comes to supply management. It has been attacked since the 80s, calling for it to be done away with entirely, McIssac said.
“It didn’t happen because we made a good case.”
The U.S. system has ups and downs with pricing and has no controls at all. Our system is so stable Canada doesn’t get the dips and dives in the market like the U.S.
McIsaac, who was a dairy farmer for 30 years, said the industry is a big player for the Island’s economy and the government will defend the supply management system.
“We’ve had a system that’s the envy of most dairy farmers across the world, even many in the U.S. They’d love to have a system like ours which matches supply with demand.
“It’s worked well in Canada for 45 years and has returned properly to farmers and provided a great quality product to consumers at an affordable price,” McIsaac said.
“We know it’s important the federal government stands strong and defends supply management.”