Livestock and ag trade groups oppose the bill while supply managed sectors want it to become law
Canadian agriculture is generally united on issues affecting the industry, but Bill C-282 appears to have created a line in the sand, or perhaps in this case, the soil.
The bill, which the senate’s committee on foreign affairs and international trade is studying, removes supply management from any future trade deals.
Through various trade agreements, Canada has conceded about 18 per cent of its dairy market.
When the federal government conceded dairy access in a trade agreement, it provided financial compensation to affected producers.
On one side of C-282 is some lawmakers and the supply managed sector.
On Oct. 10, for example, MPs from four political parties, including the current and former federal ministers of agriculture, attended a rally on Parliament Hill to show support for the bill.
“Having milked cows on Prince Edward Island for half my life before I came to Ottawa, you can fully appreciate that I have great support for the supply management system and understand how valuable it is,” Minister MacAulay said during the rally flanked by Marie-Claude Bibeau, reaffirming the government’s support of Bill C-282 also urging senators to pass it.
Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet, Bloc MP Luc Thériault, who originally introduced the bill, NDP MP Alistair MacGregor, and Green Party MP Mike Morrice attended the rally too.
A representative for Canada’s five supply managed industries also spoke on the bill.
Passing C-282 helps farmers and consumers, said Brian Bilkes, chair of the Canadian Hatching Egg Producers.
The bill “guarantees that Canadian consumers have a reliable supply of safe, sustainable, nutritious and locally produced dairy, chicken, turkey and egg products,” he said. “Previous trade agreements have severely hurt Canadian farmers under supply management by granting significant access to our markets.”
The Canadian Federation of Agriculture also supports protecting supply management.
Supply management promotes stability in the domestic food chain, the organization said in February 2023.
Members of the livestock and ag trade industries are against C-282.
Following the rally, for example, the Canadian beef sector urged lawmakers in a letter to reconsider passing the bill because of what it could mean for future trade negotiations.
“Bill C-282, if passed, would limit negotiators before talks even begin and encourage protectionist demands from other sectors. This could result in less ambitious trade agreements, jeopardizing key industries, particularly those dependent on exports, like the beef and cattle sector,” the letter says. “Ultimately, the unwavering defence of the supply management system, which is the root of Bill C-282, should not occur at the expense of all other trade and export dependent sectors of the Canadian economy.”
The Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance (CAFTA) is also opposed to the legislation.
A page on its website calls the bill “bad policy for a proud trading nation,” and outlines how C-282 could do more harm than good.
The bill is bad policy for multiple reasons and sets “a protectionist precedent,” CAFTA says.
The bill also prioritizes the economic interests of one sector above others, the organization added.
Farms.com has contacted Grain Growers of Canada for its stance on C-282.
Behind the policy of the bill is the politics associated with it.
The Bloc gave Prime Minister Trudeau’s minority government to pass C-282 and an old age security bill by Oct. 29 or the party would work with other parties to bring down the government.