If, like me, Canada's dairy supply management system - which is designed to control output of dairy products, keep prices stable and, theoretically at least, protect Canadian farmers' jobs - makes little or no sense, then you might be further bewildered by the news, based on the Dairy Farmers of Canada's own figures, that 7% of all milk produced is dumped, unceremoniously thrown away, as a result of the system.
Since 2012, between 6.8 and 10 billion litres of raw milk, representing about 7% of total production, and worth at least $6.7 billion, has just been tipped down the drain, ostensibly to avoid "costly surpluses" as the Canadian Dairy Commission says. That would be enough to supply over 4 million people annually.
The disposed milk, which is in fact a costly surplus however you slice it, also led to the release of 8.4 million tonnes of greenhouse gases (equivalent to the emissions of about 350,000 has-powered cars).
Part of the reason for this dumping is that quotas have not been properly adjusted to the changing diets of many Canadians today, who may drink less milk or prefer plant-based alternatives.
And yet, here we have Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet arm-twisting the Liberal government into protecting the controversial supply management system during international trade negotiations, effectively setting it in stone. Most of our trade partners, not to mention our own agricultural sector, hate the system, which they see as indefensible government meddling, possibly even illegal under international trade rules, and yet we still have it, and some are even looking to strengthen it.
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