International Trade committee  Yes, definitely. The workers, the ancillary workers, the transporters and so on, are all affected by this. There will be wide effects. Just directly in our industry we employ over 220,000 people, so they'll all be affected by this.

International Trade committee  Definitely, we have, in fact, calculated what we think that cost will be.

International Trade committee  Thank you for that question. As an industry, we have some studies, and we have quantified it by the effects on dollars and jobs. That has been shared with the minister and the staff.

International Trade committee  Yes. On behalf of the Dairy Processors Association of Canada, we can share those studies with you.

International Trade committee  First of all, as I mentioned, we would like the implementation of CUSMA to not take effect until August 1. That's the first request. The second request is that, as dairy processors, we have been promised compensation based on the previous trade agreements and CUSMA. We are still

International Trade committee  Yes, we're one of about half a dozen companies around the world—and the only one in Canada and North America—that produces the types of high-quality dairy ingredients that we currently produce.

International Trade committee  No. In fact, I'm vice-chair of the Dairy Processors Association of Canada and we met with the minister two weeks prior to the first release of the text. We were assured at that time that caps would not be included in the agreement.

International Trade committee  Well, we were told they would not be included.

International Trade committee  They are included.

International Trade committee  That's our understanding as well. It's unprecedented that the United States would dictate what trade we do around the world with an agreement like this, but.... What it does for Canada is that it really restricts the ability to continue to grow our market and supply our domestic

International Trade committee  The only response they've given us is that the alternatives were a lot worse. We are not aware of what those alternatives were, but we were told they would be worse than the caps.

International Trade committee  That's correct.

International Trade committee  The implications for dairy come into effect three months after ratification of CUSMA, so if it comes in after May 1, that would be August 1. The caps are based on a dairy year, which runs from August 1 through to July 31. If CUSMA is ratified before that date, for year one, as I

International Trade committee  That is correct.

International Trade committee  That's correct.