Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau said again that Ottawa will pay the Supply Management sector because of the Canada, U.S., and Mexico Agreement (CUSMA).
Bibeau says that the dairy, poultry, and egg producers and processors who are hurt by CUSMA will share $1.7 billion.
That money will be given out through direct payments and programmes for investing.
David Wiens, Vice President of the Dairy Farmers of Canada, says that they would have preferred not to have to give up any markets at all.
“Because, of course, this trade deal is ongoing. So we’ll never be able to get those markets back. But it’s true that we’re glad our government has acknowledged that this trade deal has hurt us.
He says that they are still worried about what was lost in the CUSMA deal.
“The US has control over Canada’s dairy policies, which is a very new and changing part of a trade deal. We aren’t allowed to compete with them in any of the markets they are in around the world. But on top of that, if we change anything about how we handle dairy. The Americans will keep an eye on that, which worries us a lot because we think that this trade deal also takes away some of Canada’s sovereignty.
