Madam Speaker, I thank the hon. member for Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, a beautiful riding rich in agricultural diversity.

The Government of Canada fully supports dairy, egg and poultry farmers, as well as the supply management system. Canada's dairy, egg and poultry producers and processors contribute to countless other industries, help support local economies, and create prosperous and dynamic rural communities.

Promoting trade and upholding our supply management system are not mutually exclusive. We just concluded two of the most important agreements in Canadian history, namely the Canada-United States-Mexico agreement and the Comprehensive Progressive Agreement for Trans Pacific Partnership. We have also seen our agreement with the European Union come into force.

All these efforts benefit the Canadian economy, the agri-food sector and farmers. We did all this while protecting our supply management system. The United States tried everything in its power to dismantle our system, but we managed to preserve it, protect it and defend it. The USMCA upholds the three pillars of supply management: production control, price control and import control.

Transparency provisions are common in free trade agreements and do not compromise Canadian sovereignty in any way. They also do not interfere with Canada's ability to change our milk classes as we see fit.

The provisions do not apply only to Canada. The USMCA will require Canada and the United States to inform people and hold consultations regarding various aspects of the milk pricing system.

The government fully supports the dairy, poultry and egg industries, and we are working together to assess the impact that the USMCA will have on those sectors. In order to mitigate the effects of more open access to the dairy, egg, and poultry markets, we have repeatedly said that will we fully and fairly compensate those affected by the agreement.

On that point, the government recently formed working groups with dairy, egg and poultry farmers to discuss the new agreements and collaborate on developing strategies to help them adapt, innovate and remain competitive. These working groups meet regularly and are making good progress. We look forward to meeting with them again to discuss the results of their work. I want to reiterate that the NDP leader said that it was a good agreement given the situation.

Jean-Claude Poissant

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