Agriculture committee  Thank you. Just as Mr. Donaldson was saying earlier, I believe that the reality of plants that can only sell their products in Canada is very different from that of those that can look to many markets in various countries. Generally, as you know, the dairy sector plants can onl

Agriculture committee  Yes. One study, in which I did not take part, was led by our lawyer's firm. Confidentiality agreements were in place. Indeed, we noted that the difficulty of passing on regulated price increases to retailers is definitely a big problem. Furthermore, I must say that a code of con

Agriculture committee  Yes, exactly.

Agriculture committee  Exactly so.

Agriculture committee  I will speak as an economist, because I am one. We have to distinguish between periods. I'd say that there was one period, probably from 2012 to 2020, when the retail cost of dairy products didn't go up, but input costs did go up during that time. Over the last two years, with

Agriculture committee  About what?

Agriculture committee  The Competition Bureau is currently holding consultations which we will be involved in. The scope of the consultations goes beyond this issue, but the Bureau will indeed determine if the act should be revised and amended.

Agriculture committee  First of all, our association does not participate in negotiations with retailers in any way. As you know, on the farm, price setting is fully regulated. A dairy processor buys their products on a market that's fully regulated, because the price is set by the Canadian Dairy Commi

Agriculture committee  As Mr. McCain said, it's happening around the world. Inflationary pressures are not only happening in Canada. Dairy products have gone up in price in Canada, but less so than in the United States, as you said.

Agriculture committee  On the level of inflation, over the last two years, it's certainly been similar.

Agriculture committee  Of course, every case is different. In general, however, it's not a good relationship. That's why we've been working for several years on a code for grocery sector products; to improve the relationship between all the links in the chain. It also affects agricultural producers. I

Agriculture committee  Yes, I'd say the issue is similar. Obviously, we don't discuss it as a group, but when I talk with my individual members, I certainly hear anecdotes. I've heard of cases similar to the example you referred to.

Agriculture committee  We looked at inflation after the United Kingdom's code of conduct came into force and compared it to inflation from 2012 to 2020, before the pandemic, because that changed a lot of things. Inflation in countries with a code of conduct was somewhat lower than in Canada. It proves

Agriculture committee  Thank you for the question. The best way governments can help us deal with inflation is to increase supply chain efficiency. We believe this is precisely what a code of conduct would achieve for the grocery products sector, by improving contractual certainty and collaboration be

Agriculture committee  Precisely to meet the objectives I've just described.