JANUARY 2019 • COUNTRY LIFE IN BC Grappling with


challenges Trade, labeling dominate dairy discussions in Vancouver


by DAVID SCHMIDT VANCOUVER –


Renegotiation of NAFTA – now known in Canada as CUSMA (Canada-US-Mexico Trade Agreement) – and introduction of the Healthy Eating Strategy meant 2018 was “anything but usual,” Dairy Farmers of Canada president Pierre Lampron told the BC Dairy Conference in Vancouver, November 29. Lampron said the challenges have brought dairy farmers together to defend their industry. That needs to continue, he said, stressing, “Our voice is our strength.” “You’re out there as ambassadors of the industry,” added DFC chief executive officer Jacques Lefebvre. BC Dairy Association


president Dave Taylor agreed, telling local producers they need to “engage politicians. We need to carry forward the message: no further concessions.” Lefebvre became the DFC CEO in January 2018, after several years with the Dairy Processors Association of Canada. He said there has been “incredible collaboration” between DFC and DPAC in the past year, both because of his relationship with the two organizations and more importantly, because CUSMA and the Healthy Eating Strategy challenge both producers and processors. DFC is participating in two


working groups the government has created to deal with dairy’s concerns. Lefebvre said DFC is focused on “robust mitigation, government commitment to make dairy a vibrant part of the Canadian economy and assurances of no concessions in future trade agreements.” He said consumers are coming on board, seeking out DFC’s blue cow logo “more than ever.” “There has been a 400%


increase in demand to use the logo in the past six weeks,” Lefebvre said.


DFC is planning a spring


campaign to promote what the blue cow stands for: the nutritious value of dairy, dairy farmers’ positive image and proAction – the industry’s commitment to sustainable production. “We need to do a better job of getting across what proAction is,” Lampron said. DFC is also lobbying


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Healthy Eating Strategy. Lefebvre claimed the Canada Food Guide is heavily biased against the consumption of dairy products. Many will require front-of-package (FOP) labeling, implying that those products are “fundamentally unhealthy.” Western Dairy Council


president Dan Wong showed just how stupid the proposed regulations are, pointing out Milk2Go would require FOP labeling while Red Bull, Diet Coke and refined sugar would not. There is some hope that could yet be changed, he said, noting elected officials were “surprised” when they learned about such examples. Dairy products need FOP labeling because they contain saturated fats, which the Canada Food Guide considers inherently unhealthy. However, Dr. Andrew Samis, an assistant professor in the Queen’s University department of surgery and a member of the Heart & Stroke Foundation’s expert panel on saturated fat, disputes that. “The bottom line: there isn’t enough evidence to make recommendations re: consumption of saturated fats,” he told producers. “There are no conclusive studies.”


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MAKING HISTORY: Country Life in BCeditor emeritus David Schmidt, left, received the BC Dairy Historical Society's BC Dairy Industry Achievement Award from Jim Byrne on November 29. Raised on a dairy farm on Sumas Prairie, his writing is a trusted source of balanced, informative coverage of BC agriculture, especially its supply-managed sectors. He began writing for Country Life in BCin 1985, but says he has always written for farmers, regardless of where his stories are published. This standard has set the bar for others. BC DAIRY ASSOC PHOTO


Noting milk has long been


considered “nature’s perfect food,” Wong wonders why so many people are turning to plant-based alternatives. Samis had a similar question, asking if there is a plant-based bias at Health Canada.


“Health and nutrition and


milk are no longer synonymous. The science tilts towards milk but it’s a lifestyle choice,” Wong said.


Wong joined Lampron and


Lefebvre in criticizing the Canada-EU CETA (Comprehensive and Economic Trade Agreement), CUSMA and other trade agreements. He said they are hurting Canadian processors who have invested over $1.5 billion in new infrastructure since 2016. He believes they would invest even more if they were able to operate in a stable business and policy


environment but, “We don’t have that.” He stressed that new tariff rate quotas (TRQs) need to be distributed to processors most impacted by the new agreements, saying the approach used to allocate TRQs from CETA is disrupting domestic markets. “It creates windfalls for new TRQ holders,” Wong said. “We need to get this right and we’re not.”


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