The deputy leader of the Liberal Party of Canada is hearing hints that the federal government is willing to make sacrifices to supply management to be part of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement.
Ralph Goodale says it is hard to tell what is going on behind closed doors with the negotiations, but he gets a sense that changes are coming to the supply managed dairy, poultry and egg sectors.
“The (agriculture) minister has made some vague references to providing compensation and that sort of raises the question, compensation for what?”
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Goodale said minister Gerry Ritz seems to be speaking out of both sides of his mouth. On one side he talks about the government’s unwavering support for supply management. On the other side he is making veiled references to some form of compensation.
“Two or three times in the House (of Commons) that sentence has sort of fallen into his answer to a question,” said Goodale, a former agriculture minister.
One of those times was April 30 when Ritz was speaking at a Commons agriculture committee meeting.
“We did make the pledge that should there be any negativity through the producer level in these free trade agreements, like the European Union free trade agreement, they will be compensated and kept whole,” he said.
Ritz went on to say that the government was “unequivocal” in its support for supply management in the TPP negotiations but then once again hinted that changes could be coming.
“Of course we have trade reliant sectors in this country as well. We look at it in a holistic way but at the same time with an eye on supply management to keep it as workable as we absolutely can.”
Goodale is also skeptical about the fate of Bill C-48, proposed legislation designed to modernize the Canadian Grain Commission.
The bill was introduced in Parliament on Dec. 9, 2014, but hasn’t progressed past first reading and there are concerns it will die on the order paper before Parliament adjourns in a few weeks.
“It was presented as something that was urgent, important and needed to get done but then lost all momentum,” said Goodale.
Among other things, the bill would extend producer access to binding determination of grade and dockage, allow the commission to establish a compensation fund in the event a licensee fails to pay and create a class of license for container loading facilities.
Goodale said there seemed to be consensus approval of the bill among farm groups, so he is puzzled why the legislation has stalled.
“I don’t know whether Mr. Ritz was facing some internal pressure maybe from some farm organizations.”
The fate of the bill will be revealed when the government House leader sets out his agenda for the remaining weeks before Parliament is dissolved.
