Premier Doug Ford says Ontario will keep pressure on the federal government to compensate industries that were thrown “under the bus” in the new trade deal with the United States and Mexico.“We’ll make sure that we hold the federal government accountable,” Ford said Monday in the Legislature before he and other premiers were briefed on the pact to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement.If ratified by all three countries, the so-called USMCA deal would open Canada’s dairy industry to increased competition from south of the border, but won’t remove steel and aluminum tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on Canadian producers last spring.“We’re concerned, too” Ford said under questioning from New Democrat Leader Andrea Horwath on protections for Ontario businesses and workers. “We’re going to stand up for the farmers, along with the automotive industry, the aluminum industry and the steel industry.”Horwath said farmers fear the deal signals the start of a “slow death” for Canada’s supply management system, in which dairy farmers have quotas that match production to demand, preventing surpluses of milk like the ones seen in the U.S. dairy industry.She asked if the Ford government will provide “transition assistance” to industries and farm families that will be “hit hard” by the new pact.“While there’s no doubt that while many are breathing a sigh of relief about reaching a deal, there are many others who will be left behind,” Horwath said.Economic Development Minister Jim Wilson said financial aid is the responsibility of the federal government.“That’s why we went to Washington — to make it clear that if they did throw the farmers under the bus, they’d better pay the billions of dollars required to make our farmers whole again,” he said. “It’s not the Ontario taxpayer who s ...
|
