Canada Can Eliminate Supply Management by Following Australia’s Lead

Canada Can Eliminate Supply Management by Following Australia’s Lead
Dairy farmers take part in a demonstration to protect supply management in Quebec as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his government convene for a two-day caucus meeting in Saguenay, Quebec, on Aug. 25, 2016. The Canadian Press/Jacques Boissinot
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As trade tensions between Canada and the United States over North American Free Trade Agreement renegotiations continue, and U.S. President Donald Trump places Canada’s protection of various sectors of its agricultural industry front and centre, Canadian policy-makers would be well advised to learn lessons from their Commonwealth cousins in Australia about phasing out supply management.

Canada’s policy of supply management means that Canadians pay much higher prices for staple foods such as milk, cheese, eggs, and poultry. These higher prices are enforced in two ways.