Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for Cowichan—Malahat—Langford for raising this important question.
The Government of Canada fully supports Canadian dairy, egg and poultry farmers and our supply management system. Supply management is a system that our farmers chose for themselves and it has been working well for many years. It benefits the Canadian economy and I can assure hon. members that we protected and defended it and will continue to do so.
Our supply management system is viewed as a model of stability around the world. It guarantees an income for farmers, a predictable supply for processors, and top quality dairy, egg, and poultry products for consumers. Canada's dairy, poultry, and egg producers and processors play a key role in ensuring the prosperity and sustainable growth of our country and are an integral part of Canadian agriculture. Production and processing activities contribute to many services and industries that support local economies. CETA upholds the three pillars of supply management: production control, price control, and import control. The government understands the importance of Canada's agriculture and agri-food sector to our economy, trade, and jobs.
Our negotiators worked hard to protect the interests of Canadian agriculture throughout the negotiation process. Promoting trade and maintaining our supply management system are not mutually exclusive. Canada has always signed free trade agreements with major trading partners that are good for Canadians. None of these agreements have threatened the three pillars of supply management. On the contrary, our government has defended our supply management system from strong American attempts to see it dismantled. Through economic agreements such as CETA, the CPTPP and the USMCA, the most important trade agreements in the history of Canada, we have defended, protected and maintained our supply management system. On that point, the government has formed working groups with dairy, egg and poultry farmers that will discuss the details of those new agreements and collaborate on developing strategies to help them adapt, innovate and remain competitive. These working groups meet regularly and are really making progress. We look forward to discussing the results of their work.