OTTAWA – Prime Minister Stephen Harper says the federal cabinet has already approved a plan to spend $4.3 billion over the next 15 years to protect Canadian farmers from the impact of the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Erik Butters owns a family-operated ranch west of Cochrane, Alta., and said the deal will give him a new customer base.
“Countries that trade more, prosper more,” said Butters. “In terms of the beef industry, this gives us access to some countries for a lot of products Canadians don’t want to eat. Many of the Asian markets and developing markets eat a lot of beef tongue, and other byproducts of the cattle industry that Canadian and North American consumers don’t want to eat. So this gives us guaranteed access at a competitive tariff rate with our competitors.”
WATCH BELOW: Global’s Tony Tighe speaks with an Alberta rancher, who weighs in on what the TPP will mean for Alberta’s beef industry.
Twelve nations, including Canada, have reached a tentative deal on the massive Pacific Rim trading bloc, which Harper bills as the largest-ever deal of its kind.
READ MORE: What Canadians should know about the TPP deal
Harper says the historic agreement would set a new gold standard for future global trade deals, protecting Canadian jobs today and create more for generations to come as it secures access to crucial markets overseas.
“Being able to sell some of these ‘off products’ that North Americans don’t want to eat increases the value of our animals,” said Butters. “When we can sell animals for more money, and sell our beef products for more money, then that’s an incentive to produce more.
“It’ll bring the price down, ultimately, and give a big, wide selection of top quality product.”
He says the concessions Canada has made in the dairy sector are modest – an additional 3.25 per cent of foreign imports would be allowed – and cites the fund as more than enough to ensure dairy producers are protected.
WATCH: Harper says TPP deal a ‘significant step forward’ to protecting Canadian economy
The announcement marks a watershed moment in the Conservative leader’s election campaign, if not his time in power, and could alter the landscape of the Oct. 19 election.
But it still needs to be ratified in national parliaments and the NDP has already said it does not feel bound by any agreement reached by the Conservative government.
With files from Global’s Tony Tighe
Comments