HALIFAX, N.S. — Ontario premier Kathleen Wynne signalled last week that she expects European cheese companies to gain more access to the Canadian market if a Canada-European Union trade deal is signed.
While she would prefer no change, she said her government could accept some increase in imports as long as it is small, does not affect tariff protection and does not destabilize the dairy industry, which is a significant factor in Ontario’s $34 billion agriculture and food sector.
“I have had some concerns but I have been assured it is on the radar,” she said in an interview during the annual federal-provincial agriculture ministers’ meeting.
“Minister (Gerry) Ritz (federal agriculture minister) today reaffirmed his support for supply management, and that is something I can take back to our supply management folks in Ontario. It is a system that works.”
