That's what they say. There have been so many blows to supply management that the model is falling apart. We cannot ask cheese plants, people who make yogurt and who produce fluid milk to continue to pay a higher price for their milk in order to maintain the status quo on the farm.
Since the last agreements, the government has hurt our lucrative Canadian cheese markets. Now we are feeling the effects of falling prices. I will take the example of Fromagerie St-Fidèle. Swiss cheese is imported from Europe at a cost of $5.50 per kilogram once it arrives in Montreal, while the cost of our milk at the plant is $9 per kilogram. How do you want us to be competitive in a market that is not growing? This market is stagnant, despite some small breakthroughs for butter and cream. On the whole, we are facing unfair competition and this is affecting our profit margins. We are losing markets and our sales are declining. This is what we are seeing.
Profit margins in the Canadian dairy processing sector are collapsing. This is hurting our competitiveness and the sustainability of our businesses. You have sacrificed the dairy industry and there will be negative repercussions. You are Quebec MPs; listen to us. Quebec will be the most affected province. Our industry processes 80% of Canada's yogurt, and 65% of Canada's fine cheeses are made in Quebec. There will be repercussions in all regions of Quebec.
The supply management system ensures that we deliver milk FOB to the plants. This will mainly affect plants located in dairy basins where there are not many consumers to encourage consolidation of the industry towards the markets, and therefore towards the consumer basins in the Toronto and Montreal regions.
On the whole, it won't be good. In the early 2000s, I experienced the closure of the Lactel Group in my region. Plants were closed and many jobs were lost in Quebec regions. In my opinion, there will be big repercussions, but the government is not reacting at all. We are proposing solutions, but nothing is happening.