Canadian poultry organisations denounce new criticism

Production of Canada’s poultry meat, eggs and dairy products are controlled under ’supply management’, a system wherein commercial farmers receive a guaranteed price for their goods. Photo: Canva

National poultry organisations in Canada are doing their best not to allow messages in a new article on supply management to gain ground with the public, government officials and others.

Roger Pelissero, chair of the Egg Farmers of Canada, Tim Klompmaker, chair of the Chicken Farmers of Canada, Darren Ference, chair of the Turkey Farmers of Canada and Brian Bilkes, chair of Canadian Hatching Egg Producers joined together with Dairy Farmers of Canada to make a recent statement denouncing the article.

Production of Canada’s poultry meat, eggs and dairy products are controlled under ’supply management’, a system wherein commercial farmers receive a guaranteed price for their goods. To be a commercial producer, these farmers must purchase ‘quota’, an amount of production that is allocated to ensure supply meets demand. Allocation is updated yearly.

Article details

The article critical of supply management appeared in a national newspaper and was written by Jake Fuss (director, Fiscal Studies) and Alex Whalen (director, Atlantic Canada Prosperity) at the Fraser Institute. The Fraser Institute is likely Canada’s best-known think tank, where staff do research and produce policy stances relating to many areas that deeply affect Canadians’ quality of life.

In the article, Fuss and Whalen note that ‘Canada could lower grocery bills by scrapping supply management’. “Without this form of protectionism,” they state, “grocery stores in Canada could provide a broader selection of dairy and poultry products for consumers and potentially lower costs at the supermarket. Due to supply management, the average Canadian household pays an estimated extra CAN$300 to $444 annually for groceries.”

This is at the same time that the national escalating ‘carbon tax’ is causing the price of food fuel and other goods to spike, and forcing Canadian families to food banks in record numbers. Since it was introduced in 2019, “the carbon tax has added 17.6 cents to the cost of a litre of gasoline”.

Taking a stand

However, Canada’s poultry organisations state that the suggestion that “destroying Canada’s long-standing supply management system could be a ‘fruitful way to lower grocery bills’…is both overly simplistic and patently false”.

“The authors [of the article] also fail to mention that farmers do not set retail prices and have no control over the final cost of groceries to consumers. When considering farmgate prices, supply-managed products have remained stable and generally in line or below inflationary trends in Canada. For example, 2023 year-end data indicates a 6.1% decrease in the farmgate price of chicken, a 0% increase in the farmgate price of eggs, and the farm gate price of milk only increased by 2.2%.”

In addition, Pelissero, Klompmaker and the others note that under supply management, “consumers can also be assured that this food is produced with the high-quality standards they have come to expect”.