Statement by Pierre Lampron, President, Dairy Farmers of Canada
OTTAWA, Nov. 30, 2018 /CNW/ - Another day, another broken promise made by the Trudeau government to Canadian dairy farmers.
In the latest iteration of the USMCA, Justin Trudeau failed the Canadian dairy sector again by giving up oversight to the US in the administration of our dairy system, and thus our sovereignty as a nation to develop and roll out our own domestic policies.
In spite of assurances by the federal government to the dairy sector that US oversight had not been negotiated and would not be in the final agreement, they gave it up nonetheless. It is truly disingenuous on the part of our federal government to now suggest that it has made gains in the way the oversight is captured in the agreement, when they had committed to us that this would not be a part of the agreement, period.
After CETA, the Transpacific (CPTPP) and USMCA trade deals, the combined concessions to other countries to our domestic dairy market is close to 20%.
The impact of this decision cannot be understated, and will have a lasting effect on our domestic dairy sector. This is nothing less than handing Canada's sovereignty to the US. It is truly a dark day in the history of dairy farming in Canada."
A video reaction to the signature of USMCA from Pierre Lampron, DFC President (in French) and David Weins, Vice-President (in English) are available here (for high resolution format, contact [email protected]).
Dairy Farmers of Canada (DFC) is the national policy, lobbying and promotional organization representing Canada's farmers. DFC strives to create stable conditions for the Canadian dairy sector, today and in the future. It works to maintain policies that foster the viability of Canadian dairy farming and promote dairy products and their health benefits.
SOURCE Dairy Farmers of Canada (DFC)
Media contact: Lucie Boileau, Director of Communications, [email protected], 613-220-1724
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