(Scott Bauer photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Dairy farmers worry Trans-Pacific trade deal could hurt

Reading Time: 2 minutes Ottawa | Reuters — Canada’s powerful dairy industry on Friday expressed concern it could suffer if talks to create a Pacific trade treaty open up heavily protected Canadian markets to more foreign competition. Some of the 12 nations taking part in negotiations on a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) want Canada to start dismantling a system known […] Read more

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, shown here speaking Thursday in Quebec City, said it’s “essential” for Canada to be in on a Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact. (Jason Ransom photo courtesy PMO)

Canada must be part of TPP, will defend farmers: Harper

Reading Time: 2 minutes Ottawa | Reuters — Canada must join a proposed Pacific trade pact but will strive to protect farmers, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Thursday, referring to foreign pressure to scrap tariffs that protect the dairy industry. Some of the 12 nations taking part in talks on a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) want Canada to start dismantling […] Read more


(Stephen Ausmus photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Supply-managed sectors bolster defenses against TPP

Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Canadian farmers are stepping up their campaign against a nearly complete Pacific trade pact they fear will destroy protections for local dairy, egg and chicken producers and endanger jobs. Farmers in Quebec, which produces 40 per cent of Canada’s dairy products, ran full-page newspaper advertisements on Tuesday warning Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations threaten […] Read more

(Scott Bauer photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Canada says will defend dairy protection at TPP talks

Reading Time: 2 minutes Ottawa | Reuters — Canada will continue to defend its system of tariffs and quotas that protect dairy farmers, a senior official said on Monday, in comments that could worry nations negotiating a Pacific trade treaty. Canada is under pressure at talks to create a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) because concessions sought by the other 11 […] Read more


Shown here Thursday in Istanbul, Ag Minister Gerry Ritz (front, second from right) says Canada plans to be at the TPP table to the “bitter end,” but U.S. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack (front, second from left) says Canada has yet to make a “reasonable offer” on concessions. (USDA.gov via Flickr)

Election timing puts Tories in bind on Pacific trade talks

Reading Time: 2 minutes Ottawa | Reuters –– Canada is facing a tough squeeze at talks on a major Pacific trade treaty because the concessions other nations want it to make could cause serious problems for the governing Conservatives in this October’s general election. Canada, one of 12 nations aiming to create the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), is under pressure […] Read more

Canadian Parliament silhouette

Campaign season

With the federal election heating up, how nervous should Ontario’s dairy farmers and the West’s grain shippers start getting? By some accounts, quite nervous indeed

Reading Time: 6 minutes There was a time when farmers were front and centre in federal election campaigns. But no longer, it seems. With only about two per cent of the population involved in primary agriculture, it’s hard for this important industry to break through. “The reality is, the days of elections being won or lost on agriculture issues […] Read more


(Scott Bauer photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Supply management limits growth in Canada, Saputo says

Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Canada’s tightly managed dairy sector limits domestic opportunities for Saputo, the country’s largest dairy, forcing it to focus on growth elsewhere, the company’s chief executive said Thursday. CEO Lino Saputo Jr. emphasized in an interview that the company is not lobbying Ottawa to either dismantle or preserve Canada’s supply management system for dairy, […] Read more