12-Month Lobbying Summary - Consultant

Subject Matters

• Agriculture
• Consumer Issues
• Economic Development
• Environment
• Fisheries
• Health
• Industry
• Internal Trade
• International Trade
• Research and Development
• Science and Technology
• Small Business

Subject Matter Details

Legislative Proposal, Bill or Resolution

• Health - As per Canada's food guide, we encourage the public to consume milk to meet the daily dairy requirements of important vitamins and minerals. We seek for the inclusion of the latest scientific evidence about the nutritional value of dairy products within Canada's Healthy Eating Strategy on an on-going basis. Urgently provide federal funding to establish and maintain a Canadian vaccine bank for Foot-and-Mouth Disease.

Policies or Program

• BC Dairy is seeking to work with government to address the mounting challenges faced by dairy farmers due to soaring production costs. Rising expenses for feed, labour, and other inputs continue to impact dairy farm business sustainability. BC Dairy seeks to engage with government to ensure the sustainability of this vital sector's ability to feed communities. We ask that Canada’s suite of BRM programs be reviewed and updated with a view to modernizing these programs to increase accessibility and provide optimum support to farmers and producers.
• Environment - The dairy industry is interested in sustainable development. We ask the government to support the continued introduction and adoption of clean energy and green technology on farms by providing existing and future sustainability programs with sufficient and ongoing funding.
• International Trade - The dairy industry supports maintaining Canada's supply managed agricultural system. One of the main pillars for the success of supply management (on which the dairy industry in Canada is based) is import control. We have an interest in increasing resources for CFIA and CBSA to ensure compliance for imported products. When market concessions occur in trade agreements, including the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), we seek federal government mitigation for impacts on dairy farmers and to uphold Canada's sovereignty over its domestic policies.

Regulation

• Consumer Issues - The perceived quality and safety of Canadian dairy products versus that of imported goods is of paramount concern to the dairy industry. To this end, we have an interest in ensuring the integrity of the Product of Canada and Made in Canada logos by maintaining the current Canadian thresholds and continuing to transparently identify imported content on dairy products. We support the introduction of a Grocery Code of Conduct to strengthen domestic food security for consumers. We ask that parliamentarians commit to protecting the current Standards of Identity for Dairy Products, which limit the use of dairy terminology and imagery to animal agriculture. In addition, we ask that these regulations continue to be enforced.

• Subject matter details in previous versions

  Policies or Program

  • BC Dairy is seeking to work with government to address the mounting challenges faced by dairy farmers due to soaring production costs. Rising expenses for feed, labour, and other inputs continue to impact dairy farm business sustainability. BC Dairy seeks to engage with government to ensure the sustainability of this vital sector's ability to feed communities.
  • International Trade - The dairy industry supports maintaining Canada's supply managed agricultural system. One of the main pillars for the success of supply management (on which the dairy industry in Canada is based) is import control. We have an interest in increasing resources for CFIA and CBSA to ensure compliance for imported products. When market concessions occur in trade agreements, including the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), we seek federal government mitigation for impacts on dairy farmers. We also seek the maximization of allowable permanent TRQs allocated to Canadian dairy processors. We ask that no domestic dairy market concessions are made in future trade agreements. We ask the government address the IRA in Budget 2023 with similar initiatives to tackle the inflation crisis and support Canadian dairy farmers in their efforts to reach net-zero emission.