(Ottawa) Bloc leader Yves-François Blanchet is optimistic that his party’s bill aimed at protecting supply management in all trade negotiations will be fully adopted before Christmas.
Published at 3:09 p.m.
Emilie Bergeron
The Canadian Press
He expressed this confidence on Thursday after meeting with different senators, including two who oppose the objective of the legislative piece in question, C-282.
He said he had received assurances that senators did not intend to be “obstructive” or cause delays during the final stretch for C-282 to become law.
“That’s what I wanted to hear,” summarized Mr. Blanchet in the foyer of the Upper House.
The Bloc leader expects the Senate to return Bill C-282 to the Commons in the coming weeks, once its study of the legislative piece is completed.
From there, the Bloc is evaluating what options it has to speed up the rest of the process, but it is convinced that everything can happen quickly.
“It is certainly possible to have C-282s before Christmas,” believes Mr. Blanchet.
Senators are evaluating the relevance of an amendment which was adopted in the Senate committee and which, according to the defenders of C-282, amounts to emptying the bill of its substance. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau indicated on Wednesday that, if the bill returns to the House with this type of amendment, the government will refuse such a modification.
“We will always protect supply management, whatever the opinion of the august senators,” he said during question period, specifying that his description of the senators was ironic.
“We are not going to accept any bill that minimizes or removes this House’s obligation to protect supply management in any future trade agreement,” he added.
The Prime Minister’s Office confirmed to The Canadian Press that this meant that, if the bill was sent back to the House of Commons with the amendment included, it would be rejected by the government.
It is a safe bet that the House will support such a refusal by the Liberals since the bill, in its original form, was ratified by a vast majority of elected officials from all parties. Traditionally, when a disagreement arises between the Senate and the Commons, the senators end up bending to the will of the members.
The amendment in question, which was proposed by Senator Peter Harder, would have the effect of preventing supply management from being excluded from any trade talks if it concerns a pre-existing treaty at the time of entry into force. force of Bill C-282. In the same vein, the renegotiation of an existing agreement, such as the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), or the continuation of a negotiation that had already begun would be exempt.
Mr. Blanchet’s discussion with Senator Harder was “nice,” he maintained. It was the same with Senator Peter Boehm, who chairs the committee that approved the amendment which is the subject of further discussions in the Senate.
The Bloc has not been kind, in recent months, towards these two senators in its multiple public interventions, accusing them of acting like monarchs and blocking C-282.
“I assure you that I will never have such a cordial conversation with Mr. [Pierre] Poilievre,” said Mr. Blanchet after meeting MM. Harder and Boehm.
The supply management system aims to stabilize the prices of dairy products and poultry, in particular. “ [Il] consists of coordinating production and demand while controlling imports in order to establish a stable price, both for farmers and for consumers,” summarizes the Library of Parliament on its website.
