NDP highlights supply management problems on world milk day

NDP Critic for Agriculture and Agri-Food , Ruth Ellen Brosseau (Berthier-Maskinongé), made the following statement :

“World Milk Day is a great opportunity to remind the Liberal government of the importance of our dairy industry.

Canada’s dairy industry represents the equivalent of more than 215,000 full-time jobs and contributes almost $18.9 billion to Canada’s GDP every year.

On this day, it’s also important to remind the government of the importance of our supply management system. Since the election Liberals have said repeatedly that they understand its importance but their actions suggest otherwise.

One of the pillars of our system, the management of imports, has been significantly impacted by this government’s inaction. The delay in enforcing their own regulations on cheese composition as it relates to diafiltered milk has caused the loss of millions of dollars for our dairy producers across Canada. The same is true for their inaction on the misuse of the duties relief program.

If the Liberal government really wants to protect our dairy producers and our supply management system it must take immediate action. Otherwise our supply management system can’t operate and play the role it is meant to play.

At that, I would like to wish a wonderful World Milk Day to all our producers who work so hard every day to offer Canadians dairy products that meet the highest regulatory standards.”

-30-