Liberals Must Keep Promises to Protect Local Dairy Farmers, says Stetski
April 25, 2016
Creston – Last week New Democrats tabled a motion calling
on the Liberal government to keep its election promises and commitments made at
the beginning of its mandate and require all Canadian producers to respect
cheese composition standards immediately.
"The situation is urgent and producers
are tired of waiting. The solution is simple and comes down to the government
standing up for Canada's dairy industry by enforcing cheese composition
standards,” said Kootenay-Columbia MP Wayne Stetski “Our family dairy
farms are being threatened and the NDP will continue to fight for their
future.”
Canadian producers lost a total of over $220
million in 2015 due to imported diafiltered milk from the United States. The
industry is calling for this problem to be solved immediately by properly
enforcing cheese composition standards. Diafiltered milk is a milk protein
concentrate from the United States designed to circumvent Canadian regulations
and laws as no American processor uses it.
"The importing of diafiltered milk has
significant effects on the dairy industry” said Creston Dairy Farmer Wayne
Harris “I am also very concerned about the hormones used in the production of
the imported milk products – some are not even legal in Canada.”
Trevor Hargreaves of Dairy BC agrees with
Harris “It is a practice that is extremely damaging to BC producers, and the
government needs to take action to support local agriculture.”
“The family farms in our region are an
integral part of our economy and local food system” said Stetski “Decisions
being made in Ottawa will impact their future, and I will be there to ensure
our region has a voice in the conversation.”
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