Sacred Cows? Nah, Secretive Trade Deals Are Mostly Bull
Global pacts like the TPP threaten made-in-Canada system, argue dairy farmers.
[Editor’s note: The 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership, now in advanced stages of negotiation, is ruffling the feathers of Canadian dairy farmers, who worry the agreement will impact the industry’s long-standing “supply management” system that protects farmers from imports. While reports show the U.S. government is pressuring Canada to open up its border to American dairy, the Harper government has only said that it will continue to defend supply management — and is otherwise staying mum on potential concessions. This unsolicited op-ed by the National Farmers Union summarizes farmer fears.]
Trade did not begin when the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement was originally signed, and neither will it stop if the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is not signed. Trade agreements’ investor protection clauses that enable corporations to force governments to compensate them when social or environmental policy impedes profits are contrary to democratic values. Today, Canada’s supply management system is under attack. Some trading partners, such as New Zealand and the U.S., want to sell their dairy products to Canadians, and lobbyists from other sectors within Canada would like to sacrifice the supply managed sectors as a way to obtain benefits for their own sectors. While agreements like CETA, the TPP and NAFTA are called “trade” deals, they are really sets of rules that limit governments and empower corporations. The corporate sector may make profits the top priority, but for Canadians, it is common sense to guarantee that our people can rely on both the quality and quantity of food produced by our farmers.
Canadians support supply management for good reason. It is an innovative solution, first developed in Ontario and Quebec in the 1960s. Supply management addressed the problems that led to both milk shortages and over-production and waste, along with uncertain, volatile incomes for dairy farmers. Prices were often below the cost of production and at times, processors would turn farmers away.
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