‘A point of concern’: Alberta egg farmers want firmer stance from Smith on supply management amid tariff talks

Egg and dairy producers in Alberta are disappointed by comments made by Danielle Smith about possible concessions in a U.S. trade war. Chelan Skulski reports.

Alberta egg farmers are concerned over comments made by Premier Danielle Smith this weekend, while one food expert said she might be on the right track.

• The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App

On her Saturday radio show, Smith said she has asked her agriculture minister to start a conversation on possible concessions for what she called U.S. President Donald Trump’s irritation with Canada’s supply management system.

“I can tell you that that’s a conversation that we’re going to have,” Smith said. “What happens if that becomes a discussion point? What would it look like? How would we make sure that our farmers are compensated if we have to make more concessions there?”

Supply management framework was designed in 1972 to ensure the Canadian demand for eggs, dairy and poultry is met by Canadian producers at predictable prices.

It works like this: Producers purchase quotas to supply Canada with what it needs at nationally set prices, with tariffs put in place to protect those markets.

David Webb, marketing and communications manager with Egg Farmers of Alberta, called Smith’s comments “disconcerting” for the more than 170 egg farmers in the province.

“Hopefully, it wasn’t as eager as it sounded on the surface, that she was willing to negotiate further access to the supply-managed industries beyond what was already negotiated away,” Webb said.

The U.S., he explained, was already given market access when the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) was negotiated in 2018.

As of 2023, Egg Farmers of Alberta reports Alberta held just under 10.5 per cent of Canada’s allotment, up from 9 per cent in 2014.

Giving the U.S. any additional share of Canada’s egg market, Webb said, would limit opportunities for Canadian producers.

“Even if we just continued on without renegotiating the CUSMA over the next number of years, there would still be additional access granted for American product to come into Canada,” Webb said. “The thought of a premier or anyone else being that open to willingly open the door for even further beyond that is definitely a point of concern.”

Sylvain Charlebois, director of the agrifood analytics lab at Dalhousie University, said quotas for Canada’s supply managed industries are worth upwards of $34 billion.

He said opening those markets to the U.S. or other countries would add choices at the grocery store but may not benefit Canadian producers or consumers.

“A lot of people are claiming, ‘Well, if we eliminate supply management, we’ll see cheaper prices in Canada.’ Not necessarily,” he added. “In the end, you would see more variety, more choice. But (it) doesn’t mean that these prices will actually be lower.”

On the other hand, Charlebois said Alberta has more to gain from supply management changes than other provinces – especially concerning the dairy industry.

“Central Canada has actually captured most of the market share, with more than 80 per cent of all dairy farms located in central Canada and half of them are actually in the province of Quebec,” he said, adding changes to the current system could bring more quotas to prairie provinces.

“That’s why you have a premier like Smith,” he added, “saying it’s time for change.”

In an interview with Power Play’s Vassy Kapelos, Canada’s international trade minister Mary Ng said Canada would not concede to American demands regarding supply management.

“When we renegotiated NAFTA, which is now CUSMA … supply management was very much negotiated as a part of a balance of negotiations in this trade agreement,” Ng said. “And you’ll remember at the very end, this agreement negotiated by President Trump was touted as one that worked for the Americans, worked for Canadians and worked for Mexicans.”

Webb said he would like to see the province take as strong a stance.

“The starting point for negotiations should be, ‘We’ve granted that access already. There’s no need to grant any further access,’” he added. “Over the next number of years, even under the current terms, we will be granting more access than the U.S. has today, and that should be the end of the discussion.”

Minister of Agriculture RJ Sigurdson said the province has created a working group to determine the impacts of Trump’s concerns with trade and supply management.

“Alberta’s government remains committed to standing up for our agricultural producers and maintaining a stable and reliable trading relationship with the U.S.,” Sigurdson said in an emailed statement.

“We value the voices of our producers, and will continue to actively engage with them and advocate to safeguarding our agriculture industry.”

Sigurdson and nine other Alberta ministers will attend a new provincial tariff committee meeting on Wednesday.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Chelan Skulski