Ottawa

Moffatt vs. Easter

Mike Moffatt responds to Wayne Easter’s defence of supply management, specifically the concern that eliminating supply management would open the Canadian market to cows that have been treated with growth hormone.

A brief 1998 piece by Canada’s Parliamentary Research Branch found that products from rBST cows were almost certainly being sold in Canada: “It is very likely that products such as cheese and yogurt made from milk produced by rBST-treated cows have been imported into Canada. In fact, the use of rBST has been approved in the United States since February, 1994. In that country, milk from treated cows is considered to be as safe as milk from untreated cows and there is no labelling requirement concerning rBST on dairy products.”

In short, dairy supply management does not stop U.S. dairy products from being sold in Canada. Eliminating supply management would not prevent Canada from limiting the sales of dairy products from rBST-treated cows.

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