Mr. Chair, it is an honour to speak in the House. Every time I rise to speak I think of the people in my riding of Timmins--James Bay and I am very proud to be speaking here tonight. I am also proud to be speaking as the agriculture critic for the New Democratic Party.
Our party requested this debate because we believe that the issue of supply management is a fundamental issue that has to be addressed and the time to address it is now, particularly with the issue of the flood of modified milk imports, our loss at the CITT and with the upcoming round at the WTO.
We asked for this debate because we in the New Democratic Party feel that we need to send a message to rural Canada. We have to rebuild trust as parliamentarians. We are here to work for the best of everyone in our country, not just to sit in this chamber and squabble about who gets to control power.
The issue we are discussing tonight is supply management and the question the New Democratic Party is asking is whether the government will invoke article XXVIII of the GATT to restore balance to our dairy markets. We have heard varying answers from the government and it is important to come out of tonight's debate with a clear message to our producers and to the international stage.
We are not talking about a complex issue. This is a question about whether Canada will send a message at the international level the we will stand and fight for our farmers. We want to tell our farmers and the world that we are committed to standing up and fighting for our farmers.
The question we are asking is a litmus test of resolve. Receiving different answers from the international trade minister and different possible scenarios from the agriculture minister does not address the fundamental question of whether we are willing to take a stand when the time comes.
We need to look at how article XXVIII plays out on the international stage. Other countries are always very clear. They fight for their farmers. Canada likes quiet negotiations. Quiet negotiations are fine, if they work, but the EU invoked article XXVIII against imports of wheat and barley. The U.S. invoked article XXVIII against Canadian wheat. Russia and Vietnam have shown their willingness to stand up for their domestic markets. Even the United States is making it clear now that it will start moving against modified milk products.
Why the silence from Canada? This silence says that we should trust the government, that it will work something out but that it does not yet have a plan in place so it is not willing to stand up for the farmers. We wonder why are we not willing to stand up and say that this is our line in the sand, this is where we begin our negotiations.
I believe we are at a crossroads in terms of the future of supply management. Since the issue of modified milk imports into Canada began nine years ago, what we have seen from the government is a record of inaction and a lack of response to the issues being raised. Meanwhile, we are losing up to $182 million of our market every year to this flood of unregulated milk products. This is equivalent to the entire milk production of Manitoba. We have just given it away, lost it, left it out there.
This is what has happened over the nine years since this issue was first raised by dairy farmers. At that time those farmers asked for action but they did not receive any. They were told the situation would be monitored. Now we have lost 50% of the ice cream market. We are losing serious chunks of yogurt, cheese and other dairy markets as well. Monitoring is not good enough because the plan in place has been a failure.
Should the dairy farmers of Canada trust the government to carry them through the woods into the promised land in this next round? That is the question. Let us look at the Liberal record. For nine years dairy farmers have been asking for action and in that time the market has steadily eroded.
In 2002 frustrated dairy producers crashed the Liberal retreat in Chicoutimi. To get action they had to embarrass the government. The government agreed to create a working group of stakeholders and government departments. That was the action it promised. That was some action because soon after the working group was struck the producers were kicked out. So much for Liberal promises on this.
When we look at the abysmal track record and the unwillingness of previous agriculture ministers to really get serious about the issues of labelling and serious on standards, we need to look at what recently happened with the CITT ruling and take this as a serious undermining of what we have right now in terms of our domestic dairy markets.
When the CITT ruled that Canada could not place promilk 872 B under the tariff line 0404, which allows us to apply the overquota tariff of 270%, it was not just that this case was lost but it made the further ruling that all the protein subjects that had been subjected to control since 1994 could not be placed in the overquota tariff line either. Therefore we are looking at what we have already lost, which is substantial chunks of our domestic market, and now we see that the floodgates have been opened.
The government has launched an appeal and we support it, but what if the appeal fails? Have we any trust that we will be able to turn back the clock, because at that point we do need plan B in place?
When we talk about what this is in terms of the dairy sector, the poultry sector, the ag sector versus other commodities that we export, it is not a question of Canadians not being able to compete. It is a question of whether we are going to stand back and do nothing in the face of heavily subsidized products that are being dumped into our markets.
We know, for example, that with casein production in the EU, the direct payments the EU pays for that production have heavily distorted the price. What we are seeing is a distorted trade practice where because of the EU subsidies, they are basically flooding our market. Is this the level playing field that Canada supports at the WTO? I do not think it is.
Speaking of the WTO, it needs to be pointed out that while our producers have been trying to get the government to send a clear signal, Tim Groser, the New Zealand ambassador to the WTO, has also been sending Canada a clear message. He is telling us not to stand up for dairy. He is warning us not invoke article XXVIII. In fact, he is saying that the government's response will send a message of Canada's credibility on the international stage. Mr. Groser and I do not agree about too much but we both agree on one thing: this is an issue of our credibility.
Unfortunately, we have different interpretations of what that credibility means. Let us put it is this way. Canada is the fourth largest exporter of agriculture products in the world and maybe the fifth largest importer. The question we must ask is where are the trade minister and the agriculture minister getting their marching orders from: New Zealand or the farm families of Canada? We are not being partisan but the dairy farmers of Canada are fed up with what they call “Liberal stalling, ignoring and excuses” on this issue. They want action and they want it now. They know that with the upcoming round at WTO we need to make it really clear where are going to stand.
What is at stake if we allow this undermining of our ability to regulate our market? We are talking about the future of the most successful farmer operated system in the world. There is no parallel. Our farmers are not subsidized. They are able to compete and are able to compete in a market that not only brings fair, stable pricing to producers, it brings a great response for consumers.
The egg costs in Canada are at about $2.04. They are over $2.53 in most American cities. If we look at dairy costs in U.S. cities versus Canadian cities, we see that dairy costs in the U.S. are about 23% higher. Anyone out there selling this myth that we should get rid of supply management to open the market and consumers will have better choice, it is a lie. It is incumbent upon Parliament and the government to let Canadians know that we will stand up for supply management because what is attacking it is a lie.
I had the honour to attend, with some other agricultural members from all parties, a recent meeting with a trade delegation from New Zealand. The delegates seemed to give us the message that they would fight our over-subsidized dairy and supply market system. The message is not getting out internationally. We are not standing up and speaking out.
Why will we not invoke article XXVIII? Why will we not give the message very clearly that we are willing to invoke it now? It will buy us time. We will send a message at the WTO round to make it very clear that this is not on the negotiating table.
The New Democratic Party is committed to rural Canada. It is committed to supply management and to the principle that our domestic rural economy is something worth fighting for in the international stage. Right now being willing to stand up and invoke article XXVIII is a good way of showing that.
