Canada could benefit enormously
Canada firm on supply management
Foreign dairy producers are slapped with tariffs that range between 200 and 300 per cent when they try to sell in Canada. Those tariffs not only make foreign cheese, butter and other dairy products prohibitively expensive for Canadian consumers, they also keep domestic prices for dairy products among the highest in the world.
Prime Minister Harper has said, nonetheless, that Canada is standing by its dairy producers in trade talks even though it recently committed to increased imports of European cheese in the trade deal with the European Union known as CETA.
"I've been out talking to a lot of dairy farmers and you do find a lot of them privately will talk about how change is necessary and inevitable," Tucker said.
Global demand is growing dramatically for dairy; Canada could benefit enormously if it levelled the playing field and stopped resisting change, he added.
"There's no reason given why Canada couldn't reorientate its dairy industry ... the danger is if you hang on and hang on and hang on and you get dramatic change foisted upon you, you may not be in a position to create what you want."
