Liberals refuse to protect our dairy producers

OTTAWA – Today, the Liberal government voted against an NDP motion to protect our dairy producers. The Liberals are therefore breaking their election promises and commitments made at the beginning of their mandate to require all Canadian producers to respect cheese composition standards immediately.

"The situation is urgent and producers are tired of waiting. The solution is simple and comes down to this government standing up for Canada's dairy industry by enforcing cheese composition standards," said NDP Agriculture critic Ruth Ellen Brosseau (Berthier-Maskinongé). "Our family dairy farms are being threatened and I'm disappointed that the Liberals aren't respecting their commitments."

Canadian producers lost a total of over $220 million in 2015 due to imported diafiltered milk from the United States. The industry is calling for this problem to be solved immediately by properly enforcing cheese composition standards.

"The government had six months to take action. Not only did the minister vote against our motion, but all he had to offer was a promise to meet with producers in the coming weeks," said Brosseau. "Producers don't need another meeting – they need action."

Diafiltered milk is a milk protein concentrate from the United States designed to circumvent Canadian regulations and laws as no American processor uses it.