Western Standard - July 28, 2025


How Alberta Could Destroy Canada's Soviet-Style Dairy Cartel ｜ The Cory Morgan Show


Episode Stats

Length

4 minutes

Words per Minute

203.45047

Word Count

853

Sentence Count

56

Misogynist Sentences

3


Summary

In this episode, I talk about why Alberta should get rid of Canada's supply management system on dairy, eggs, and poultry, and why it's time to end supply management and let the market run its own business.


Transcript

00:00:00.000 Canada's Soviet supply management system on dairy, poultry, and eggs. It's been screwing
00:00:05.220 citizens for decades with higher food prices. It's been shrinking family farms, and it's
00:00:10.020 disrupted international trade deals. The dairy cartels are deeply entrenched in Canada, and
00:00:14.940 they've effectively cowed every federal political party, including the Conservatives. No major
00:00:19.960 federal leader is going to dare question supply management for fear of upsetting the precious
00:00:24.020 souls in Quebec, which benefits, of course, disproportionately from the program. So the
00:00:29.060 standoff on this terrible policy robs Canadian consumers of billions of dollars. Now Premier
00:00:34.580 Daniel Smith might actually prove to be the catalyst that finally breaks this system.
00:00:39.180 I mean, supply management serves Alberta poorly, and she can make a solid case as to why the
00:00:43.380 province should exit the system. Smith has nothing to fear with the wrath of Quebec. If anything,
00:00:48.160 pissing off, Quebec only bolsters her support back home. Alberta has some of the richest
00:00:52.000 agricultural land in North America. We also have some of the most experienced and successful
00:00:56.100 farmers and ranchers. If they could be freed from the shackles of Canada's supply management system,
00:01:00.720 we could look forward to a more diverse, value-added agricultural industry, benefiting all Albertans,
00:01:06.560 producers, and consumers. Currently, the dairy quotas predominantly go to Quebec producers. It's
00:01:11.520 $25,000 a cow for a quota in Quebec, and as much as $50,000 in Alberta. It's illegal to produce eggs,
00:01:17.640 milk, chickens, or turkeys without that government-issued quota. It's ridiculous. And Alberta
00:01:21.980 farmer was recently jailed for the crime of selling his own eggs. The system is obscene
00:01:26.060 in its control and infringement upon free markets. Albertans pay inflated prices for food products
00:01:32.360 due to the purposeful strangulation of supply due to this system. In any other industry, this sort of
00:01:37.540 price-fixing would be illegal. Canadian dairy producers have literally dumped over 6 billion
00:01:42.360 litres of milk down the drain over the last few years because it would be illegal for them to sell it
00:01:46.440 or even give it away. Isn't that nice for families struggling to pay the food bills? The systems led
00:01:51.040 to Canada having fewer dairy farmers in larger concentrations in Quebec, of course. When supply
00:01:55.720 management was first imposed upon farmers, there were 140,000 dairy farms. Now there's only about
00:02:00.300 9,000 and that number is dropping because only large corporate operations can afford those quotas and
00:02:05.320 they've squeezed out the small producers. New Zealand and Australia had supply management systems
00:02:09.500 in the 70s, but they wisely got out of those in the 80s. Because they got rid of it, their dairy
00:02:13.860 industries have flourished and both countries have turned into very successful exporters of
00:02:18.060 agricultural products. Alberta could do the same. Defenders of dairy cartels try to claim that if
00:02:23.760 we got rid of the wretched quota system, we'd suddenly be flooded with dairy products without
00:02:27.020 regulations. That's a ridiculous and outright lie. Quality control standards have nothing to do with
00:02:32.520 the price-fixing scheme and the standards won't change when the racket's dismantled. They also claim
00:02:36.980 we'd be flooded with allegedly inferior American products if we got rid of the quota system.
00:02:41.120 Again, it's a load of BS. The tariff system blocking American dairy goods has nothing to do with
00:02:45.960 quotas. Americans' dairy products are neither inferior or dangerous, but if you really don't
00:02:50.860 want them, just don't buy them. If we have a strong domestic dairy industry unbound by supply management,
00:02:55.500 we won't need to import dairy products anyways. We can be exporters of everything from powdered milk
00:03:00.080 to cheese to ice cream. We can compete. Supply management defenders are making the case that
00:03:04.600 Canadian producers are so incompetent that if we got rid of the quota system, they'd go broke.
00:03:08.720 Well, maybe some of them are. Let them go then. The strong will survive just as they do in every
00:03:13.580 other industry. And no, we couldn't get rid of the system overnight. An addict has to be weaned from
00:03:18.240 their drug of their choice. It might die in withdrawal. The system must be dismantled though
00:03:22.840 over some years and in stages, and a degree of compensation must go to quota holders. There's no
00:03:28.340 better time to start that process than now. Supply management benefits Quebec, thus no federal party
00:03:33.420 will dare question it. If we want to break free, it has to be a provincial initiative, and we can't
00:03:37.320 initiate it soon enough. So much like the pension plan, the RCMP collecting our own taxes, supply
00:03:42.120 management's another policy where Alberta can step up and take control for itself. And with all those
00:03:47.520 policies, when the federalists complain about Alberta standing up for itself, our response should be the
00:03:51.660 same. What's she going to do about it? I mean, what are they going to do? Stop buying our milk?
00:03:55.900 They already don't. Stop buying our oil? They already don't. Punish us with regional-based pet taxes?
00:04:01.320 They already do. If Premier Daniel Smith breaks the dairy cartel in Alberta, it'll lead to the end of
00:04:07.000 it across Canada, and everybody will benefit. But it has to begin with putting Albertans first.