The private member’s bill that aimed to prohibit any concessions to Canada’s supply managed dairy, poultry, and egg markets in future trade talks has been derailed by an amendment passed at the Senate’s foreign affairs and international trade committee.
Bloc MP Luc Theriault’s Bill C-282 is technically still alive, but the odds of it becoming law are dramatically diminished after the members of the committee voted 10-3 in favour of an amendment moved by Senator Peter Harder during clause-by-clause consideration of the bill on Wednesday.
The amendment would alter the bill to not apply to trade agreements already in place, the renegotiation of an existing agreement (such as the upcoming renegotiation of CUSMA/USMCA with a Trump 2.0 administration that will be seeking more dairy market access), or to agreements that are already under negotiation (such as the trade talks with the United Kingdom.)
What happens now?
Regardless of what’s in the amendment, the bill will likely have to be sent back to the House of Commons, assuming the amendment is accepted when it returns to the full Senate for third reading (the Senate rarely rejects an amendment from a committee, and it’s possible another amendment would be introduced if that were to happen).
It would face an uncertain timeline for debate in the House of Commons, as the House has been stuck in a stalemate over a Conservative privilege motion since September with no progress on government business.
If referred back to the House of Commons, the amended C-282 would be in the same boat as C-234, the bill that was supposed to remove the federal carbon tax from propane and natural gas used on farms, which was also amended at the Senate committee stage after being approved by the majority of MPs.
Given the earlier all-party support for C-282 in the House, MPs could choose to reject the Senate’s amendment, after which the Senate would have to vote whether to reject or accept the MPs’ decision.
While already on life support, the bill will die if not passed before the federal election, which could be called any time before October 2025.
If the Liberals choose to prorogue Parliament, it would have to restart the Senate approval process if it’s still in the Senate.
Passage of Bill C-282 by October 29th was one of two conditions given by the Bloc Quebecois for continuing to support the Liberal minority government in non-confidence motions, but that deadline wasn’t met. Bloc leader Yves-Francois Blanchet said his party will now work to defeat the Trudeau government, which can still survive confidence votes with NDP support.
While supply-managed industry groups have advocated for the bill, export-focused sectors of the Canadian agriculture represented through the Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance have strongly opposed it.
Related:
C-282 is tearing relationships in the agriculture industry apart
Supply managed sectors set the record straight on Bill C-282 and what it means for Canada
