Canada’s staunch defence of supply management makes it impossible to have a clear policy for increased export market access that much of agriculture needs, say George Morris Centre economists.
In a study on Canada’s lagging agricultural productivity and world performance published by the Ottawa-based Macdonald-Laurier Institute, Larry Martin and Kate Stiefelmeyer argued that Canadian agriculture needs more robust international trade deals and foreign access if it is to reverse a decline in competitiveness.
But Canada’s mixed trade message is an impediment.
The government supports aggressive pursuit of foreign markets and the reduction in trade barriers while vowing to defend dairy and chicken tariffs as high as 300 percent.
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“The conflicting position of various industries within Canadian agriculture stand in the way of a clearly articulated and practical strategy for improving access to markets,” they wrote in their report.
Martin and Stiefelmeyer argued that protection from competition gives Canadian dairy farmers much higher prices than farmers in other countries.
It means they are less interested in investing in technology or expanding for economies of scale because they have a guaranteed administered price.
Still, all Canadian political parties have vowed to support current levels of protection even if it affects Canada’s clout in trade liberalization negotiations, they said.
