Mr. Speaker, from the beginning, we have been saying that the agreement the Liberals signed is bad for our farmers, bad for our SMEs and bad for Quebec.
The federal government is not listening to its Quebec counterparts right now. The government does not seem to understand all the losses it will be inflicting on our dairy farmers, for example, who will have to be compensated following the recent trade deals signed by Canada.
According to the Quebec government, Ottawa needs to compensate farmers who will bear the brunt of its three new trade deals, namely the brand-new United States-Mexico-Canada agreement, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, which could come into force soon, and the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, which has been in force for a year now.
The government thinks it only needs to provide compensation for two agreements, namely NAFTA 2.0 and the CPTPP. It feels that it has already compensated for the impact of the third agreement, the one with Europe. That is what the Liberal government seems to be saying. The fact is that the support in question is inadequate and has failed to offset the effect of allowing the Europeans to flood the Canadian market with an additional 17,700 tonnes of cheese.
For our dairy farmers, losing 10% to 12% of the market to foreign farmers will cost them the equivalent of a month's salary every year. Yes, an entire month.
While in my riding, I met Fabien Fontaine, the CEO of Délimax. He told me that, in recent years, government cuts to agricultural insurance programs, transatlantic trade agreements and required changes to animal husbandry practices have severely undermined the financial viability of veal production and processing operations in Quebec.
The transatlantic trade agreement now allows European veal producers to send us their goods without paying the nearly 30% tariff they used to be subject to even though they do not have to follow the same rules governing the use of certain products. Furthermore, for the past 20 years, the European veal industry has enjoyed generous subsidies to upgrade its veal production facilities, but we have not.
In my last speech in the House, I asked the government to keep its promise about the measures it will be taking to compensate farmers.
Last week, farmers learned that the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food invited them to two working groups with a mandate to estimate the financial impact of recent trade agreements and determine how to compensate them fully and fairly. I should point out that the government promised solutions before Christmas.
However, these working groups will not be looking at the agreement with Europe or the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. The minister seems to think that the matter of compensation for the European agreement has already been settled.
Quebec's new Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, André Lamontagne, does not seem to share that opinion.
Last week, he said he hopes that these task forces also take into account the economic losses caused by the trade agreement with the Europeans.
I add my voice to his because Quebec's new Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, André Lamontagne, also represents a good portion of my riding. The riding Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot includes the Maskoutains and Acton RCMs that we share. I therefore add my voice to his and ask the government if it will adequately compensate producers.