n "elephant in the room" is an English metaphor for an
obvious truth that's ignored or an obvious problem or risk that no one
wants to discuss. For Canada's dairy farmers, the elephant in the milking parlour is the
Trans Pacific Partnership.
On November 13th, following a Honolulu lunch with U.S. President Obama
on the last day of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit,
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced Canada will join the
Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a multi-lateral trade agreement that
aims to reduce all tariffs to zero by 2015.
Like the NAFTA, the TPP covers trade in goods, rules of origin, trade
remedies, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers to
trade, trade in services, intellectual property, government
procurement and competition policy.
Considered a pathfinder for the proposed Free Trade Area of the Asia
Pacific (FTAAP), original signatories to the TPP were Brunei, Chile,
New Zealand and Singapore. It now includes Australia, Malaysia,
Peru, Japan, the U.S. and Vietnam. Japan and Canada has applied
to join. All are members of APEC.
Historically, Canada's entrance into the TPP has been blocked by the
US and New Zealand over their opposition to Canada's agricultural
policies. Specifically supply management and in particularly as
it relates to dairy products.
According to both MacLean's and the National Post (Nov. 14th and
13, respectively) when questioned about this, "The Prime Minister
said Canada can 'easily meet' the broad strokes of the agreement
unveiled Saturday by Mr. Obama, even if it means throwing into the mix
a supply management system that forces Canadians to pay higher prices
for products like milk, cheese, chicken and eggs. "
Harper is quoted as saying: "Whenever we enter into
negotiations, we always say that all matters are on the
table. But of course Canada will seek to defend and
promote our specific interests in every single sector of the
economy."
But of course: Any dairy farmer who doesn't see this one
coming should go out and listen to the barn mice. They know
foes wear many faces.
Whether covert (just these pesky trade rules) or overt (the CWB) is of
little consequence. It comes to the same: flagrant disregard for
farmers, the communities they serve, public policy, food security, and
(oh yes) democracy. Dairy farmers need only look to their
neighbours in the grain sector to understand just how much deception
and treachery the Harper government is capable of
delivering.
On October 18th, after years of harassment that included interference
in elections, removal of directors from office, firing of the general
manager and millions of taxpayer dollars spent on a massive propaganda
campaign, Bill C-18 was tabled to kill the Canadian Wheat Board - an
institution representing the economic interests of Prairie grain
farmers since 1935 - expropriating in the process some $200 million in
assets owned by the farmers.
In a sharply-worded decision rendered December 6th, Federal Court
Justice Douglas Campbell ruled the Harper government's conduct was not
only a violation of the law, but moreover "an affront to the rule
of law."
Undaunted, Harper pushed ahead; Bill C-18 flew through the Senate and
passed into law December 15th. According to Ned Franks,
professor emeritus of political studies at Queen's University "as
long as that appeal process is underway, the government cannot
implement the provisions of the law."
Yet within hours of its passage, the eight elected CWB directors were
fired.
In the best-Christmas-present-ever category, multinational grain
giants Cargill, Viterra, ConAgra, ADM and others now have access to
Canada's top quality grain at bargain basement prices.
It comes as no surprise that right wing governments embrace
neo-conservative ideology.
We get that. But surely the global economic collapse
-precipitated in 2008 and with no end in sight - demands that leaders
of integrity and vision re-examine the legitimacy of such
rhetoric?
International markets dominated by a handful of concentrated economic
players are not competitive. Global investment flows that race
through the night seeking profits from financial derivatives may
increase GDP, but add nothing to productivity.
Jobs exported to offshore factories with low wage rates and no
environmental standards serve the interests of investors at the
expense of communities. The income gap between rich and poor is
absurd.
Credit ratings of once powerful nations are in the tank. The
Euro is in trouble. The Occupy movement is on the march,
resonating with many who sense legitimacy behind its youthful
messaging.
Add to this global concerns regarding peak oil, climate change, food
security, sovereignty and safety, the buy-up of farmland by foreign
investors and the transition to fuel crops and it is beyond clear that
governments have a profound responsibility to enact good public policy
to ensure the sustainability (read permanence) of our farm
sector.
In the 2011 federal election, the majority of Canadians - six out of
every ten - voted against Stephen Harper's Conservatives. Thanks
to Canada's multi-party political system, Harper's 39.6 percent
support in the polls translated to a Conservative majority.
In such circumstances, a true leader would steer a collaborative and
democratic course reflective of the interests of all Canadians.
Instead, Harper has lashed the Canadian ship of state alongside that
of the Americans, jettisoning democratic farm legislation in the
process and dashing Canadian farmers and Canadian public policy to the
rocks.
