Dairy Farmers of Canada congratulates Erin O’Toole on his election as leader of the Conservative Party of Canada

August 24th, 2020 (Ottawa) - Dairy Farmers of Canada (DFC) extends its congratulations to Erin O’Toole on his election as leader of the Conservative Party of Canada. We look forward to working with him in his new role.

During the campaign, Mr. O’Toole spoke with dairy farmers from across the country and heard first-hand how the Canadian dairy production that was transferred to foreign producers as a consequence of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the Canada-U.S. Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) hurt thousands of families working on more than 10,000 farms from coast to coast. We are grateful for his support for full, fair and timely compensation.

The commitment to compensation by the Federal government for CPTPP and CETA has resulted in a first instalment last year, since then, nothing! Yet, these trade concessions are already having an impact on dairy farms across the country, and our industry as well as many others have also had to contend with the consequences of the pandemic. At a time where our domestic food security is paramount, weakening our dairy sector is inconsistent with good policy. Mr. O’Toole demonstrated a clear understanding of these consequences and vowed to support our Canadian dairy families.

We wish him good luck in his new role, and we assure him of our support in advancing these issues.

Pierre Lampron

President, Dairy Farmers of Canada

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