Mr. Speaker, earlier this year, in one of my first questions as the NDP's agriculture critic, I decided to put the government on the spot regarding the words it says in the House with regard to protecting our supply-managed sectors and trying to match those words with its actions. The premise of my question was that if the Canada-EU free trade agreement, commonly known as CETA, created a breach in our supply management sectors, the CPTPP threatened to blow it wide open.
I think that all hon. members, especially those who have agricultural sectors in their ridings, are quite aware that there are three main pillars to supply management: import control, producer pricing, and production discipline. I liken it to a three-legged stool. The stool simply will not stand up if just one of those measures is not kept in control. For example, if import controls are weakened, this will have an impact on the other two pillars.
Under the CPTPP, we know that certain percentages of market access to foreign countries have been guaranteed for our supply-managed sectors, and people in those sectors are starting to raise the alarm. It is all well and good for the Minister of Agriculture to stand in the House and claim that the Liberal Party was the one that brought in supply management and is there to defend it, but I go back to the earlier point of actions meeting words. There is a bit of concern on this side of the House, and among some of the major players, that while the Minister of Agriculture means well in his words, he may not be the one fully driving this agenda and other members of cabinet are in fact undermining his position.
If we look at some of the myths that exist out there about supply management, artificial pricing and limiting the supply are probably the two biggest myths. I acknowledge that out there in the punditry this is a bit of a political football. However, I think that the critics are a bit distant from the consumer and they lack a holistic view of farming and agriculture today. I am privileged to represent a few farmers from the supply-managed sectors in my riding. In fact, the former president of Dairy Farmers of Canada, Mr. Wally Smith, is a constituent of mine, so I know this sector very well.
If we look at pricing, the big factor here is what happens in the United States. If they overproduce or underproduce a commodity such as eggs, the prices fluctuate. That is really what causes the major detractions from the Canadian price. As far as limiting supply is concerned, supply management does not limit supply. It is really all about monitoring the supply and trying to make sure that producers are matching the demand.
Members do not have to take my word for it. They just have to look at some of the statistics and what some of the major stakeholders are saying about the government. Mr. Pierre Lampron, the president of Dairy Farmers of Canada, said:
On the one hand, the Canadian government has repeatedly stated that it wants a vibrant, strong, and growing dairy sector that creates jobs and fosters investments; on the other hand, it continues to carve out pieces of our domestic dairy market, first through CETA, and now through the CPTPP.... The Government must understand that in continuing to make these concessions, they are putting the Canadian dairy sector in jeopardy.
It goes across the sectors. If we talk to Chicken Farmers of Canada, the egg producers, and so on, we would find similar quotes.
What I am looking for today is for the government, through the parliamentary secretary, to match its actions with its words. I will let the parliamentary secretary respond, and I hope to hear something good from him.