Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz said Canada would compensate farmers for any losses resulting from the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact, said Reuters, with negotiations underway in Atlanta. Ritz told a federation of farm groups that “everything starts out on the table,” including Canada’s supply-management systems for dairy, poultry and eggs that limit imports and keep domestic prices high.
Canada will hold parliamentary elections in less than three weeks. If Conservatives retain power, Ritz said, they would maintain the supply-management approach, but he did not rule out the possibility of market openings. “If there is loss on your farm (or) processing side, you will be compensated,” Ritz told the farm federation.
“The dairy lobby is politically influential, with most of its farmers living in Quebec and Ontario, two provinces that are key to winning the election,” said Reuters. Farmers in eastern Canada like the supply-management system. Growers in the west, who sell their products on the open market, want a deal that will expand exports, especially to Japan.