Vote No
An Act to amend the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Act (supply management)
This bill amends the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Act to bar the Minister of Foreign Affairs from agreeing, via international trade treaties or agreements, to expand import access for supply-managed goods. Specifically, it prohibits commitments that increase tariff rate quotas or reduce over‑quota tariffs for dairy, poultry, and eggs. It does not change existing tariffs or quotas; it limits future negotiating flexibility and ministerial authority. The measure effectively locks in Canada’s current supply management protections within future trade deals.
The bill hard‑codes a ban on market‑access concessions for supply‑managed sectors, reducing negotiating flexibility and likely increasing consumer costs, which undermines prosperity, competitiveness, and export growth. Protecting a small segment through statutory rigidity conflicts with an ambitious, pro‑trade, pro‑productivity agenda.
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By statutorily limiting trade negotiating options, it risks smaller, less ambitious trade deals and higher food prices, which can dampen overall prosperity.
It entrenches protectionism and restricts market choice, reducing competitive pressure and flexibility to pursue ambitious trade outcomes.
Shielding sectors from competition can suppress productivity gains and raises input costs for food processors, weakening competitiveness.
Removing the ability to trade market access in supply‑managed sectors can impede securing reciprocal access abroad for exporters in other sectors.
Long-run innovation and investment typically benefit from exposure to competition; a permanent ban on liberalization reduces those incentives.
It neither streamlines nor clearly increases administrative efficiency; it simply narrows ministerial authority.
No direct tax changes.
This narrow, sector‑specific restriction prioritizes a small protected market over broader, economy‑wide gains from ambitious trade.
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