Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet put out an advertisement promoting Canada’s controversial supply management system for dairy and poultry.
The Bloc Québécois posted a video on X of Blanchet talking about the alleged benefits of the supply management system for Quebec’s farmers and consumers. However, consumer groups are disputing the federal party leader’s claims as misleading.
“It’s a system that guarantees the quality of products that you buy in Quebec markets. The quality of eggs, the quality of dairy products, the quality of poultry,” said Blanchet in French.
Blanchet claimed that the supply management system is not only better for the environment, but it also results in cheaper prices for consumers.
Consumer advocates note that the supply management system has its fair share of drawbacks, resulting in higher prices for consumers, contrary to Blanchet’s statements.
David Clement, an affairs manager at the Consumer Choice Center told True North that the supply management system is failing and that the only reason why the Bloc Québécois supports it is because the majority of supply managed farmers reside in Quebec.
“Supply management is a system that fails to meet its core objectives, beyond giving quota holders a substantial, and inflated, source of income. The cost to consumers domestically is significant,” said Clement.
“Canadian consumers pay 20-30% more for milk than Americans do. Supply management inflates prices for Canadian consumers, adding upwards of $500 to the average family’s grocery bill each year, which in turn pushes between 133,000 and 189,000 Canadians below the poverty line.”
Clement says that the system only benefits a small minority of Canadians – the farmers that produce supply-managed products whose incomes continue to rise at a rapid pace.
“The approximately 10,000 or so supply managed farmers benefit via artificially inflated incomes,” said Clement.
“The net income quota owners receive after all production expenses have been paid has increased from $161,000 in 2013 to $246,000 in 2022 when the median individual income was only $43,100. And while incomes increased by nearly 53 per cent over that time period, total milk production in Canada only increased by 15.5 per cent.”
Clement says that Canada’s dairy lobby – the Dairy Farmers of Canada – are too powerful for politicians to cross.
“Supply-managed farmers, specifically the Dairy Farmers of Canada (DFC) are the most politically connected lobby group in Ottawa, and one of the largest spending lobby groups in Canada both in terms of in-person lobbying and advertising budget,” said Clement.
The Bloc Québécois’ post received significant pushback from Quebeckers who recognize that the supply management system is contributing to their cost of living concerns.
“All this at the expense of the consumer, who pays more for these products. You never talk about it. Strange,” said one user.