Brian Giesbrecht: “There was one Canadian who saw very clearly, years ago, what a dead end supply management was for Canada – a system that no self-respecting Conservative should support. This was Max Bernier
(…) We should have listened to Max Bernier in 2017.”
The average Canadian family spends $500 per year to subsidize the 10,000 or so dairy farmers — most of whom are millionaires — who make up a dairy lobby that has had a stranglehold on Canadian politics for a generation.
Unlike a tax, that $500 doesn’t go towards maintaining roads, or equipping the army. It mainly goes into the pockets of those producers.
Let me say at the outset that I’m not intending to disrespect our dairy farmers. They are conscientious, hard working people who have built their farms under the system as they found it. They get up at ridiculously early hours to get their milking done, grab a few hours of sleep, and then do it all over again later in the day.
Most don’t take holidays, because it is just too complicated. They have worked for years to purchase their quotas, and build their farms. And they deserve respect, as well as fair prices for their quotas once this quota system comes to an end
But the system they work in can no longer be justified, when Canada is presenting itself as a free trader, and the aggrieved victim of Trump’s tariffs. When Australia and New Zealand went through the painful process of dismantling their supply management systems many of their producers went on to success, both nationally and internationally, while older producers used their buyouts to enjoy well-earned retirements.
