Federal agriculture minister Lyle Vanclief will be feeling heat from
the industrial customers of Canada’s dairy farmers, who argue that he
must impose tougher rules on the way the farmer lobby controls the
system.
It follows an Ontario court decision not to hear an appeal from the
Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association that Canadian
pizzerias should be able to buy cheese for domestic use at lower United
States prices.
The Ontario Divisional Court rejected a processor request that it
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consider as unfair the pro-farmer bias of the Canadian Milk Supply
Management Committee.
The court said operation of the dairy system is outside its
jurisdiction.
“The court basically said dairy farmers run the system and that
clarifies things,” said Stephanie Jones of the food services
association. “The system has been hijacked by a self-interested group
of dairy farmers. If the courts have thrown up their hands, then it is
up to the minister.”
Jones said pressure will be applied to the agriculture minister to make
the dairy price-setting system “transparent, fair and accountable.”
As it stands, she said, there is no check on the power of the farm
lobby to insist that the best domestic price always be extracted.
Meanwhile, restaurants must compete with imported frozen pizzas that
use cheaper cheese, often bought from Canada through lower
export-priced product, a situation that marketing boards insist is
beyond their influence.
That contention is under challenge from New Zealand and the U.S. before
the World Trade Organization.
“Now that we know the courts won’t intervene and we know the farmer
lobby is in charge, our only option is to insist to the minister that
there be controls, transparency, fairness, accountability,” said Jones.
“This isn’t just about our members but consumers as well. They have the
right to demand the same from the system.”
Dairy Farmers of Canada president Leo Bertoia said the producer sector
welcomes the court judgment.
“We’re happy with it and believe it justifies our position that the
system is functioning properly.”
The Ottawa-based lobby issued an analysis that argued dairy farmers
receive 56 cents for the cheese on a medium pizza.
“This amounts to less than five percent of the price of a restaurant
pizza,” said DFC. “Taxes and tips alone amount to six times the
producers’ share of the price of a pizza. Producers could give their
milk away to cheese plants and consumers wouldn’t even notice a
difference on their bill.”
