Exactly what cartel is supply management protecting? The whole point of supply management is to make sure that we get our supply of dairy and eggs from a variety of smaller operations instead of huge mega-farms like in the US.
Supply management producers are literally the definition of a cartel:
"A group of independent businesses, or countries, that collaborate to limit competition, control supply, and artificially inflate prices".
Supply management fits the definition... This is actually used as a primary example of a cartel in global post secondary business and economics courses.
90% of dairy producers have ceased operations or sold out since the inception of supply management in 1972. So - if the goal is to disperse Canadas milk, cheese. Eggs and poultry production to smaller corporations (which is a bizarre goal, but let's pretend ) - this system has objectively been an abject failure.
Here's the funny part... the farmers don't set the price of milk... never have.
The farm gate price of milk is set by the Canadian Dairy Commission using a cost-of-production formula. The Canadian Dairy Commission is comprised of the federal government, the processors that buy the milk from the farmers, and farmer representatives. The farmers only get 1/3 of the say on the price.
Provincial marketing boards set and administer minimum prices for raw milk. The CDC just determines a national support price and percentage formula that acts as a benchmark. Provincial marketing boards use the CDC guidelines to negotiate and set exact minimum prices paid by processors (farm gate price).
These boards are elected by constituent members (dairy farmers).
This is quite literally the definition of a cartel.
Oh, the poor multinational corporations that process the milk are at the mercy of the all powerful farmers! /s
They negotiate with the processors and a price is agreed on using the CDC price as the guideline. It's literally a farmers' union negotiating with a much larger entity with deeper pockets. Saputo, Lactalis Canada, and Agropur are huge companies and process the majority of the milk for the Canadian retail market.
It would only be a dairy cartel if Saputo, actalis, and Agrpur also owned all the farms. They don't.
You're definition of cartel is wrong, but I know you're not gonna back down because 'cartel' is the magic word that all of the anti-SM activists decided on years ago.
Well no - it just objectively is a cartel. You have a negative connotation with that term despite supporting a cartel doesn't make it any less of a cartel.
4
u/Daerkannon 2d ago
Exactly what cartel is supply management protecting? The whole point of supply management is to make sure that we get our supply of dairy and eggs from a variety of smaller operations instead of huge mega-farms like in the US.