Tories Stutter on Supply Management

[FiveParadox]

The Right Honourable Stephen Harper, P.C., M.P., the Member for Calgary Southeast and Prime Minister of Canada, denounced supply management as "government-sponsored price-fixing cartels", and made his opposition to price management in Canada quite obvious; however, then, the Thirty-ninth General Election was called, and the Prime Minister took a one-eighty and supported the idea.

In one month, the World Trade Organization begins worldwide negotiations; the Honourable Chuck Strahl, P.C., M.P., the Member for Chilliwack—Fraser Canyon, the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-food and the Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board, has yet neglected to comment on the important negotiations, and whether or not he agrees with the supply-management model, or the Canadian Wheat Board as a whole.

The Wheat Board assists farmers in Canada by ensuring that their products can be sold for reasonable prices, and that consumers can purchase basic stable products such as eggs, bread and milk at an affordable cost. The Honourable Wayne Easter, P.C., M.P., the Member for Malpeque and Agriculture Critic for Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition, and the Honourable Dominic LeBlanc, P.C., M.P., the Member for Beauséjour and International Trade Critic for the same, assert that the silence of the Conservative Party of Canada on this subject in the past few weeks poses a threat to supply management in Canada.

Liberal Party of Canada[/i]]Before he was Prime Minister, Stephen Harper was on the record, denouncing supply-management as 'government-sponsored price-fixing cartels'," Mr. LeBlanc said. "It was only during the last election that Mr. Harper paid lip service to protecting the supply-management model. We demand Mr. Harper and Mr. Strahl give Canadian farmers a clear indication, once and for all, of whether they really support our producers' rights to market their products as they see fit."

"If Mr. Harper and Mr. Strahl are unwilling to speak up to defend the Canadian Wheat Board and the interests of wheat producers in the Western provinces, what can the dairy farmers of Ontario, Québec and Atlantic Canada, for instance, expect when the time will come to defend supply-management? The same logic could be applied to eggs or poultry producers elsewhere in the country," concluded Mr. Easter.

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:?: Sources
Click here for the Web site of the Liberal Party of Canada.

 

[TenPenny]

Silence because western farmers now don't want the wheat board. Because it helps stabilize prices in bad times, but doesn't let them profit too much in good times, so the western farmers want to do away with the wheat board.

I'm all in favour of that, just don't come crying to us when drought hits.

 

[Jay]

then, the Thirty-ninth General Election was called, and the Prime Minister took a one-eighty and supported the idea.

I just looked up the Conservative Party Platform and it seemed clear what their ideas on the matter are.