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CUSMA compensation set for supply-managed sectors

Feds pledge over $1.7 billion in payments, programs

A final round of payments and programs for Canada’s supply-managed dairy and feather sectors — this time in compensation for the sequel deal to NAFTA — is now on deck for 2023 and beyond. Compensation to those sectors for domestic market concessions granted under the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) was telegraphed in federal Finance Minister Chrystia

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Dairy commission fills board vacancy

Green tech CEO named to commissioner spot on CDC board

Concerns that the Canadian Dairy Commission could be caught short at its board table have been resolved with a new appointment to a vacant commissioner’s chair. Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau on Sept. 27 announced Shikha Jain will be the CDC’s commissioner for a four-year term effective Sept. 15. Jain, who lives at Guelph, is


Editor’s Take: On rent-seeking

If you’ve already read Allan Dawson’s story featured on the front page of our Mar. 10 issue of the Co-operator, there’s a fairly high likelihood you’re feeling a bit sour. In it he details the work done by agricultural economist Ryan Cardwell on the topic of ‘rent-seeking’ behaviour generally, and how farmers are particularly good

“This (supply management) is very different from a direct payment to farmers,” says Ryan Cardwell. “It’s hard to understand.”

Supply management views especially strong

Views proved unresponsive to new information, researchers find

Supply management is a controversial policy and was since implemented for Canadian production of milk, eggs, chicken and turkey in the 1970s. How people feel about it is shaped by their ‘big-picture world views,’ including wealth redistribution, inequality, free trade and political party support, said University of Manitoba agricultural economist Ryan Cardwell while delivering the


Do you know what it costs to make a batch of cookies lately? A popular meal-kit company took a look at exactly that. So, where does Canada stack up compared with countries around the world, and why?

Editorial: Cookie context

The folks at HelloFresh, a meal-kit company, probably didn’t intend to wade into the latest dairy debate in Canada when they released their global Christmas Cookie Price Index Study this week. The company compared the cost of ingredients — flour, eggs, butter, sugar and baking powder to bake a standard batch of Christmas cookies in

A mandatory code of conduct, either through regulations or law, outlining rights and obligations of all parties, is the request of the letter writers.

Dairy groups call for grocer oversight

New fees were imposed last year by major retailers, sparking controversy and concern

Canada’s dairy industry is asking for provinces to oversee a code of practice for grocery retailers. In a letter to federal ministers, leaders from dairy groups say the “best solution” to “arbitrary fees and deductions” would be through “the development of provincial codes that are legislated, mandatory and enforceable.” The country’s top grocery retailers drew fire from food suppliers in 2020 after


“Supply management is a uniquely Canadian system that allows Canada’s dairy, poultry and egg farmers to produce what the Canadian market demands.”

Commodity groups split on predictable lines over supply management law

Private member’s bill would exclude supply-managed commodities from trade negotiations

Commodity groups are split on predictable lines over a proposed law that would exclude supply-managed commodities from future trade negotiations. Bill C-216, was introduced as a private member’s bill by Bloc Quebecois MP Louis Plamondon as a means of protecting supply management. If passed, federal negotiators would not be able to involve tariffs or import

Dairy farmers have a marketing budget exceeding $130 million a year. It is a monster of an organization, and very few Canadians can appreciate this.

Comment: Santa Claus loves milk, especially Canadian milk

Trade compensation given quickly with few strings attached will be an expensive and wasteful exit strategy

In haste, Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau chose a Saturday, hours before a long-awaited economic update, to offer more non-COVID-related compensations to supply-managed farmers. Compensations were expected, but how it was done was a little strange. Few in the industry knew what was going on before the announcement. When giving money away, governments would want as much


Dairy farmers will get $1.75 billion in direct cash compensation over four years instead of eight years.

Federal funds to be used to shore up dairy, eggs, chicken against foreign imports

The federal government announced $691 million in trade compensation for poultry and egg farmers, shortened payment timelines for dairy on November 28

Federal funding commitments to supply-managed farmers should go to increase sustainability and efficiency and to innovate in the face of increasing foreign competition, say Manitoba commodity groups. Money promised to egg farmers would be well spent on product research, increasing sustainability, and consumer awareness — such as trust-building work done by the Canadian Centre for

dairy aisle

Editor’s Take: Keep the baby

For decades now, Canada’s supply management system has been under attack from both outside the country and within. Internationally it’s a perennial target in trade negotiations, and particularly the dairy industry. That sector, over the years, has endured the ‘death of a thousand cuts’ as every time Canada has inked a trade deal, it’s seen