Conservatives defeat motion to defend the wheat board at WTO

Ottawa – At the International Trade Committee yesterday Conservative MPs blocked a New Democrat motion that would have instructed Canadian negotiators to defend the Wheat Board and supply management up upcoming World Trade Organization (WTO) talks.

“The Conservative government trumpets its support of supply management in Canada, but its actions and omissions at the WTO talks take us in the opposite direction. The fact that the Conservatives are opposing the New Democrat motion clearly illustrates why they cannot be trusted.” said International Trade Critic Peter Julian (Burnaby-New Westminster).

The motion called for Canada to reject a report by the WTO committee on agriculture that would weaken Canada’s supply management and state trading enterprises system. The motion was presented by Julian.

The International Trade Committee had finalized its ongoing hearings on Canada’s supply management and is in the process of producing a report with recommendations to the federal government when the New Democrat motion was presented as a recommendation.

“The motion would have provided clear instructions to Canada’s negotiators to correct a fault contained in the current text of the WTO report. As it stands, the report undermines Canada’s supply management system and weakens the single desk selling authority of the Canadian Wheat Board. These are the facts, pure and simple” said Julian.