Mr. Speaker, 2005 marks the 40th anniversary of supply management in the chicken broiler, turkey and dairy industries.
Despite the fact that supply managed sectors provide inexpensive yet premium quality food, there are those out there who still do not get it.
Recently, when ordering pizza, one of my constituents was confronted with a sign indicating that the pizza would now cost more because dairy farmers were charging more for milk. Notwithstanding that I have never seen a sign saying that pizza prices have increased because of the cost of hydro, fuel, labour or rent, the information is erroneous.
Canadians must understand that domestic dairy goods are as inexpensive as possible. In fact, if one were to pay $14.24 for a medium pizza in a restaurant, the farmer's share would be only 61¢. Furthermore, if one were to directly compare U.S. dairy prices with ours, one would find that prices here on average are 20% less expensive than similar items in the United States.
Supply management has been a huge success and I congratulate the Government of Canada for officially recognizing this fact.