Dairy farmers from the provinces of Ontario and Quebec took their concerns to Parliament HIl in Ottawa yesterday.
They were letting the government, and other Canadians, know, they want the supply management system that sustains their livelihoods maintained. And the 15,000 dairy farmers are just one group of Canadian workers watching the TPP negotiations, currently under way in Atlanta, in the United States.
The Trans Pacific Partnership agreement, if signed by Canada, would give the country access to a market of 800,000 million people in 12 countries. This is 40 per cent of the global economy. What’s not known, however, is what Canada will have to give up to get this access.
People in the auto sector are concerned about Japan’s demands for greater access to the Canadian market. Dairy farmers are concerned about New Zealand wanting an expanded market for its dairy products. Citizen’s groups are warning about the increased costs of medicines, and Canada’s fledgling wine industry is worried about Australia and Chile flooding the Canadian market with more of their harvest.
A ‘preliminary agreement’ is expected this week, Joe Olilver, the Finance minister said today, the agreement will not be accepted if it’s not ‘good for Canada’.
For reasons beyond our control, and for an undetermined period of time, our comment section is now closed. However, our social networks remain open to your contributions.