Maybe it was all those tractors on Parliament Hill.
Canadian Dairy farmers are breathing a cautious sigh of relief today following the announcement of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement.
The trade deal among 12 Pacific Rim countries calls for, among other things, an increase in dairy imports to Canada of 3.25 per cent. Canadian producers still corner the vast majority of the domestic market through tightly-controlled supply management.
On the surface it appears to be a far cry from the potential dismantling of supply management that some had feared.
Those fears led to dozens of local dairy farmers driving their tractors, and even a few cows, to Parliament Hill on September 29th.
“We’re not happy that we gave up, but we are happy that supply management gets to stay,” says Ottawa dairy farmer Peter Ruiter. “I’m relieved, and I think that our industry is relieved that it’s over.”
Not everyone, however, is so relieved.
The federal government has pledged over 4-billion dollars in compensation for farmers affected by the deal, to be paid out over 10 to 15 years following its ratification.
The National Farmers Union finds that suspicious. "This large dollar amount suggests that the intent is to completely dismantle diary supply management over the next ten years," the NFU said in a statement.
As with any huge international trade deal, the devil will be in the details.
