Madam Speaker, I listened closely to my colleague's remarks. I too want dairy producers to be protected at all costs. It goes without saying that there are very specific challenges facing dairy producers, who at present are getting almost nothing for cull cows. In some cases, they are getting nothing or even showing a loss. All this to say that we cannot lose the protective measures currently in place. I am working with the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and the Minister for International Trade to protect our quota systems.
I have a problem, however, when the member claims that this government is supposedly letting in certain products, such as butter oil. A clarification is necessary. We are not “letting in” this product. Currently, as the member himself said, there are tariffs on identified products. Butter oil has not been identified because, in the past, there was no such product.
I have a problem with this because, and I think the member will agree with me, I do not consider butter oil to be a product but rather a concoction, because when it is blended with sugar, the end result is used as a way to import butter oil into Canada, which is then converted back. The member said it himself. No one goes to the store to buy a kilo of butter and sugar mixed together. It is impossible, because it is neither a product nor intended for consumption. It is nothing other than a subterfuge to import a product that, in my opinion, could not otherwise cross the border.
So, I think that our arguments must address the fact that there is no such product and that this is simply a subterfuge to import a prohibited product. This must form the basis of our case, to prevent future imports of the famous butter and sugar oil now coming into Canada.