Mr. Speaker, eight years ago today, the Bloc Québécois motion on supply management was unanimously adopted. We went through an emotionally charged day, along with the dairy, egg and poultry producers of Quebec, because we were not sure whether we would achieve unanimity until the very last minute.
Indeed, in committee, the Conservatives had joined with the Liberals to defeat a similar motion. For eight years, the Bloc Québécois motion effectively constituted the Canadian negotiation policy and ensured that the supply management sectors were protected.
Still with Quebec producers, we also adopted a motion on imports of milk proteins. The government ultimately betrayed dairy farmers, especially our Quebec cheese makers, with the recent free trade agreement with Europe. We had already sounded the alarm when, for the first time, the government left supply management on the table during international negotiations.
The federal government must now meet its commitment for a compensation plan and ensure better border control to protect Quebec's remarkable cheese industry.