Trade minister Jim Peterson said last week that free trade deals have failed Canada’s farmers.
He immediately heard some contrary views from farm leaders and opposition political leaders.
Peterson made the surprising assertion Dec. 14 after listening to an hour of Senate agriculture committee members talk about problems with wheat duties, a closed beef border, potato trade obstructions, hog duties and continued high U.S. subsidies that depress prices.
Agriculture has been left out of the generally positive trade picture with the United States, said Saskatchewan Liberal senator Herb Sparrow.
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“Somehow or another, I have not felt that Canada is in a position to play hardball. We have to find some way of doing that.”
Peterson responded: “When you say free trade and the NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) have not been good for our farmers, you are right and I would not try to convince them that it has been. You are quite right.”
He warned against retaliating against the Americans by limiting their access to Canadian resources they want, but he agreed U.S. trade actions undermine trade liberalization.
“It is protectionism. We have to call a spade a spade,” said the Toronto MP and rookie minister with roots in Saskatchewan.
“We are quite prepared to live up to our trade obligations and trade fairly. We are prepared to make sure that we do not subsidize, that we do not dump and if we do, pay the penalty. Tribunals have said we are fair traders in all these areas.”
Opposition leader Stephen Harper said in an interview Peterson had a point, sort of.
“I’ve never had it put that way but I think there is some truth in that,” he said in an interview.
But the context is that most of agriculture has been outside the free trade deal. And the deterioration of relations between the Liberals and the Americans during the past 11 years has hurt agriculture and other primary producers.
Harper said a Conservative government would work hard to protect Canadian primary product exports into the U.S. market.
Meanwhile, Canadian Federation of Agriculture president Bob Friesen disagreed with Peterson, despite the trade disputes with the United States.
“I believe NAFTA has been more beneficial than detrimental to most of agriculture,” Friesen said.
“But I think we have won more than we have lost and NAFTA is still a good news story for agriculture.”
