Mr. Speaker, the United States is getting ready to encroach on an area and our farmers are not at all happy about it. In Quebec, farmers know what supply management means.
In December 1993, I participated in an information session put on by the UPA in Beauce. The meeting was held in Saint-Georges. We were told, with input by Yvon Proulx, senior economist at the UPA, that, under the GATT, we were going to
have to drop milk quotas, which would be replaced by import tariffs. These import tariffs would be so high that they would prevent, to all intents and purposes, the entry of supply management commodities, such as dairy products, eggs and poultry.
Both the farmers and I were sceptical, but the UPA kept on repeating that the freshly elected Liberal government had given guarantees.
However, Canada and the United States each have their own interpretation of the FTA and NAFTA. On the one hand, we have Canada, which claims that converting import quotas for dairy products into tariff equivalents, as the GATT agreements stipulate, takes precedence. On the other, we have our American friends, who claim that NAFTA prohibits the use of tariff equivalents.
Yesterday, the Prime Minister assured me "from one Chrétien to another" that he would bring the issue before a WTO panel if the Americans did not stop pestering Quebecers and Canadians. Today, I would like to remind the government that, under the GATT agreement, Canada's agricultural tariffs for each commodity will be reduced by 36 per cent over six years, with a minimum reduction of 15 per cent per commodity. That is what was promised to farmers in order to let the GATT be passed, in December 1993.
By July 1995, therefore in a few months, the tariffs should be as follows, to quote a few: butter, 351 per cent; cheese, 290 per cent; powdered milk, 250 per cent; chicken, 280 per cent; eggs, which have the lowest tariff, 192 per cent; milk, 283 per cent and ice cream, 326 per cent.
These high tariffs will protect producers in Quebec and Canada for several years to come, despite tariff reductions of 15 per cent to 36 per cent over the next six years.
The important thing for our farmers is not to produce but to secure markets for their products. That is why this government must stand up and show once and for all that, under section 309 of NAFTA, Canada can invoke section XI of the GATT agreement to protect its agricultural industry. I hope that this government will show more backbone than it did in the durum wheat dispute last summer.
Supply management is nothing new in Canada. In fact, dairy products have been supply managed since 1972. There were then 17 cows in the average dairy herd, compared with 48 today.
We must remember that, in 1971 and before, farmers had a little bit of everything. They used to keep three or four pigs, one or two horses, beef and dairy cows, sheep, chickens; it was almost a zoo.
Today, our farmers specialize in pork, dairy, poultry and other products. We asked our farmers to specialize in order to become competitive and they took up the challenge. To meet this challenge, they must have a decent income and know how much they can expect to receive in 1995 and 1996, and not a widely fluctuating income. Supply management offers dairy producers some income stability.
I know that my question will be answered by the hon. member for Prince Edward-Hastings on behalf of the Prime Minister, but I hope that he will take these demands under consideration. I know that the hon. member for Prince Edward-Hastings is very familiar with all agricultural sectors and that he, too, is very sensitive to farmers' concerns. I, for one, can tell you that farmers would never have agreed, in December 1993, had they known that this import tariff agreement would be so fragile.