The patter of angry hooves
Farmers walk cows, park tractors outside Parliament in free-trade deal protest
OTTAWA— The livelihoods of thousands of Ontario autoworkers and farmers are on the negotiating table as Canada heads into a round of high-stakes trade bargaining this week with the United States and 10 other Pacific Rim countries.
Concluding the talks, which would create a massive free-trade zone touching four continents, hinges on the participants’ ability to overcome deep divisions on opening up trade in autos and dairy products — both sectors of crucial interest to Canada.
Farmers took their concerns to the streets in Ottawa on Tuesday, parking dozens of tractors by Parliament Hill, walking cows and pouring milk onto the pavement.
“Our Canadian market will be flooded pretty easily and this way the price of milk is going to go down and we could lose a good amount of money by the end of the year,” said Chris Ryan, 28, whose family has farmed the same land in St-Isadore, Ont., for 155 years.
“We’re talking about $50,000 to $60,000 if it keeps going the way it is. So at the end of the year, we’re losing our profits, (which will) prevent us from growing and providing for our families.” Conservative Leader Stephen Harper, who could light up his election campaign with news of a TransPacific Partnership (TPP) deal, said the federal government fully intends to protect Canadian automakers and dairy farmers in the negotiations beginning Wednesday in Atlanta, Ga.
But many who have followed the TPP talks are worried International Trade Minister Ed Fast will be under fierce pressure in the next few days to make major compromises to allow the 12 countries to wrap up nearly a decade of negotiations.
“Canada is going to have to give something to get something, it’s as simple as that,” said Toronto trade lawyer Lawrence Herman.
Herman said Ottawa will have to make compromises on its tightly managed dairy sector. Large-scale dairy-producing countries such as the U.S. and New Zealand have been pressing Ottawa to loosen up Canada’s system of supply management, which includes import tariffs to shield the domestic dairy market from foreign competition.
The same is true for the auto sector, Herman said. Canada was sandbagged by the U.S., which secretly met with Japan to work out TPP guidelines allowing foreign automakers to import vehicles tariff-free into North America with substantially less North American content than currently required.
Unifor president Jerry Dias has said Canada could see as many as 24,000 jobs disappear as a result.
“There will have to be some adjustments,” Herman said, adding that with both dairy and autos the impact on Canadian business and workers will depend on exactly how tariff rules and quotas are changed and how long any phase-in periods would be under TPP.
On the campaign trail, Harper said dairy farmers have nothing to worry about.
“We’ve always said that we will defend our supply management system in our international negotiations and we’ve always done that. We will continue to do that.
“The presence of this system in Canada is a decision for Canadians. It is not a decision for foreigners or foreign countries to be making.”
On autos, Harper has said automakers might not like everything in a TPP deal but has emphasized the importance for the Canadian auto industry of having greater access to the global market.
“We make sure in all of these negotiations that we secure markets for our auto industry, make sure that we’re part of the global trading system and we will only sign a deal if we believe it is in the best interest of all of the Canadian economy, including our auto industry,” Harper said Tuesday.
But tough negotiations on autos lie ahead for Fast.
Japan has so far refused to budge on the domestic content provisions in a TPP deal.
Despite the obstacles facing TPP negotiators, a tentative deal could be signed by the participants as early as Friday, observers say.