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The political lawn sign at the end of Scott Rathwell’s driveway urges passersby to re-elect Conservative MP Pierre Lemieux. But Rathwell, a 45-year-old Navan dairy farmer, confesses that it wasn’t until this week that he was convinced he’d vote for the incumbent himself.
“The sign is safe,” Rathwell said following the release of some of the details of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement on Monday, including duty-free access by the 11 other participating nations to 3.25 per cent of Canada’s dairy market.
A third-generation farmer with about 30 milking cows, Rathwell noted that there had been rumours leading up to Monday’s announcement – the deal has been years in the making – that anywhere from four to 15 per cent of Canada’s dairy quota would be up for grabs, possibly without compensation to affected producers.
The issue was of particular concern at an all-candidates meeting last Thursday in the largely rural riding of Glengarry-Prescott-Russell, where Lemieux is in a neck-and-neck battle with Liberal challenger Francis Drouin. According to non-partisan political website and polling aggregator threehundredeight.com, Drouin had a slight edge going into Monday’s announcement, with 42.5 per cent support to Lemieux’s 39.9 per cent.
“I’d heard it may allow the U.S. to bring 10 per cent of our milk quota into Canada,” Rathwell speculated last week after the all-candidates’ meeting, “which essentially means a 10-per-cent pay cut for every dairy farmer out there. That’s a big chunk. How would you like it if your boss came in and said ‘Here’s a 10-per-cent pay cut?’ ”
But in announcing the deal, the federal government promised to keep dairy and poultry farmers “financially whole” by investing $4.3 billion over the next 15 years in new income and quota guarantees, including about $11,000 a year for a typical dairy farmer.
“It’ll take a while to digest everything,” said Rathwell. “It’s still so fresh and we don’t know all the details yet, and I can only speak for myself, but if this is the case and they’re going to help us out, I’m not going to change my vote. They’re going to protect us, so I have no problem.”
The Dairy Farmers of Canada, which represents Canada’s approximate 12,000 dairy farms, agrees.
“We obviously would have preferred that no additional market access be conceded in the dairy sector,” said president Wally Smith in a statement.
“However, we recognize that our government fought hard against other countries’ demands, and (has) lessened the burden by announcing mitigation measures and what seems to be a fair compensation package, to minimize the impact on Canadian dairy farmers and make up for cutting growth in the domestic market.”
Rathwell added that Canadian dairy farmers haven’t been subsidized since the early 2000s. Instead, supply management policies that limit production while placing high tariffs to prevent foreign competition have ensured that domestic dairy farmers can make a living. Any TPP deal that opened up the Canadian market without some form of compensation would, in his opinion, be inherently unfair.
“It’s not a level playing field with us and the (United) States. It’s apples and oranges and you can’t compare the two systems.
“Just with labour costs and the quality of milk, it’s nowhere near even, even if the dollar was at par. Especially when we have to pay $11-something an hour minimum wage and they’re paying $7.25. And to get foreigners to work here – because Canadians don’t want to work on farms – you have to jump through hoops, whereas they can just go to Mexico and bring them in by the dozen.”
bdeachman@ottawacitizen.com
查看原文...
“The sign is safe,” Rathwell said following the release of some of the details of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement on Monday, including duty-free access by the 11 other participating nations to 3.25 per cent of Canada’s dairy market.
A third-generation farmer with about 30 milking cows, Rathwell noted that there had been rumours leading up to Monday’s announcement – the deal has been years in the making – that anywhere from four to 15 per cent of Canada’s dairy quota would be up for grabs, possibly without compensation to affected producers.
The issue was of particular concern at an all-candidates meeting last Thursday in the largely rural riding of Glengarry-Prescott-Russell, where Lemieux is in a neck-and-neck battle with Liberal challenger Francis Drouin. According to non-partisan political website and polling aggregator threehundredeight.com, Drouin had a slight edge going into Monday’s announcement, with 42.5 per cent support to Lemieux’s 39.9 per cent.
“I’d heard it may allow the U.S. to bring 10 per cent of our milk quota into Canada,” Rathwell speculated last week after the all-candidates’ meeting, “which essentially means a 10-per-cent pay cut for every dairy farmer out there. That’s a big chunk. How would you like it if your boss came in and said ‘Here’s a 10-per-cent pay cut?’ ”
But in announcing the deal, the federal government promised to keep dairy and poultry farmers “financially whole” by investing $4.3 billion over the next 15 years in new income and quota guarantees, including about $11,000 a year for a typical dairy farmer.
“It’ll take a while to digest everything,” said Rathwell. “It’s still so fresh and we don’t know all the details yet, and I can only speak for myself, but if this is the case and they’re going to help us out, I’m not going to change my vote. They’re going to protect us, so I have no problem.”
The Dairy Farmers of Canada, which represents Canada’s approximate 12,000 dairy farms, agrees.
“We obviously would have preferred that no additional market access be conceded in the dairy sector,” said president Wally Smith in a statement.
“However, we recognize that our government fought hard against other countries’ demands, and (has) lessened the burden by announcing mitigation measures and what seems to be a fair compensation package, to minimize the impact on Canadian dairy farmers and make up for cutting growth in the domestic market.”
Rathwell added that Canadian dairy farmers haven’t been subsidized since the early 2000s. Instead, supply management policies that limit production while placing high tariffs to prevent foreign competition have ensured that domestic dairy farmers can make a living. Any TPP deal that opened up the Canadian market without some form of compensation would, in his opinion, be inherently unfair.
“It’s not a level playing field with us and the (United) States. It’s apples and oranges and you can’t compare the two systems.
“Just with labour costs and the quality of milk, it’s nowhere near even, even if the dollar was at par. Especially when we have to pay $11-something an hour minimum wage and they’re paying $7.25. And to get foreigners to work here – because Canadians don’t want to work on farms – you have to jump through hoops, whereas they can just go to Mexico and bring them in by the dozen.”
bdeachman@ottawacitizen.com
查看原文...
