The supply management bill (C-282) was amended by a Senate committee to limit its scope to new trade treaties only.
If passed by the House of Commons at third reading, renegotiations of existing treaties could also not include a supply management mechanism. This means that it could be the subject of negotiations during the renegotiation of the Canada-United States-Mexico agreement (CUSMA) in two years.
The Bloc bill aims to prevent new breaches in the supply management system and prevent the Canadian market from being more open to foreign producers within the framework of trade agreements.
The Canadian supply management system aims to maintain a balance between domestic production and consumption through the control of production, imports and basic prices. The quantity of products imported into Canada is therefore limited under tariff quotas, beyond which these products are subject to higher customs tariffs.
Five types of product are subject to supply management: milk and its derived products, chicken, turkey, table eggs and hatching eggs.
Open in full screen mode
Peter Harder and Peter Boehms are among the senators opposing Bill C-282. They fear it will take away the autonomy of Canadian negotiators during trade talks. (Archive photo)
Photo: The Canadian Press / Adrian Wyld
This is downright a move to kill the bill.
What they said was “yes, we will vote for it, but it is not valid for the agreements that are going to be renegotiated, it is not valid for the agreements that are being renegotiated” […]. This amounts to eliminating the bill
criticized Mr. Perron, spokesperson for the Bloc Québécois on Agriculture.
The Senate criticized
Yves Perron recalls that 250 agricultural producers demonstrated on Parliament Hill last October to tell the Senate “pass the bill, because it has been gathering dust in the Senate for a year and a half.”
Open in full screen mode
In a rally in front of Parliament, the Bloc Québécois received the support of farmers and representatives of all political parties in the Commons for its bill on supply management. (Archive photo)
Photo: The Canadian Press / Justin Tang
We have serious questions to ask ourselves regarding this institution, criticized Mr. Perron. Is it normal for a bill to sit there for a year and a half in a minority government context?
I don’t know what game the Senate is playing at the moment.
I hope that this bill will be able to be adopted because, for us, we must stop the gradual erosion of the supply system that we have seen with the Conservative and Liberal governments
declared Mr. Boulerice, adding that it is essential that the parliamentary obstruction orchestrated by the Conservative Party comes to an end.
There is a danger that is real
he added. If we are never able to adopt [le projet de loi C-282]which is really crucial and important to protect supply management, it is the Conservatives and the Liberals who will have to pay the political price.
The amendment proposed by Senator Peter Harder
Subsection (2.1) does not apply to a commitment made on behalf of the Government of Canada by:
- (a) a treaty or agreement relating to international trade that was in force when this subsection came into force;
- (b) the renegotiation of such a treaty or such an agreement;
- (c) a treaty or agreement relating to international trade that was under negotiation at the time this subsection came into force.
More details to come.
