Hello, everyone.
I agree completely with what she just said, and I was going to speak on the ISDS, but I will talk about supply management instead.
I am 18 years old. I'm from a high school in Toronto.
The TPP certainly does not sit well with me, nor does it with my comrades.
Supply management is a system under threat by the TPP, and although it is not a perfect system, it does give farms a chance to raise organic and ethically produced produce.
I worked on a farm and I got to experience first-hand the importance of rural farming in Ontario and its positive impact on society in Canada. There's strong environmental impact and there's also economic impact.
One of the examples of environmental impact is that here, because of supply management, we're able to have a dairy farm that can support farmers and support us with only 70 to 80 cows; whereas in the United States, because of the high competition, those dairy farmers are forced to use about 30,000 cows, which, I can assure you, is a strong toll on the environment.
Farming is tough, back-breaking work, and because of supply management you're able to make a living. The TPP threatens that. Let's not blow farmers out of the water with the TPP.
It does not sit well with me, one of millions of students across Canada, and I'm terrified about its consequences not only two years from now, not only five years from now when I've graduated university and entered the workforce, but 10 years from now. What are the future consequences for the youth of today? I'll tell you that it's really hard to understand because the TPP is so complex. An average Joe like me can't make it out.
The TPP does not sit well with me or my future.