OTTAWA Former prime minister Brian Mulroney has said its time to end supply management in Canada for both the dairy and poultry industries. “We should give some thought to the consideration of a careful, innovative and generous phase out of our supply-managed programs for dairy and poultry,” the Globe and Mail quoted Mulroney as saying. Mulroney made the comments at the GrowCanada agricultural conference in Ottawa on Dec. 3, adding that getting rid of supply management would open up enormous export potential to other countries. The newspaper also reported that Mulroney said the phasing out would be good for dairy and poultry farmers, using New Zealands dairy industry as an example of the end of supply management becoming a success story. According to the Globe, the Conference Board of Canada said that buying back production quota in Canada from dairy farmers would cost taxpayers $3.6 to $4.7 billion. |