The Bloc questioned the Liberals about Bill C-282 on multiple occasions
The first exchange in the House of Commons related to agriculture occurred on Oct. 30 between Prime Minister Trudeau and Yves Perron, the Bloc’s agriculture critic.
Perron asked the prime minister if he would get Bill C-282, the bill that protects supply management in future trade deals, passed through the Senate.
“We are defending supply management and we expect the Senate to pass this bill to ensure that supply management will always be protected in Canada in the future,” Trudeau said.
As of Nov. 4, the bill remains in the committee stage in the Senate.
And the Bloc gave the federal government an Oct. 29 deadline to pass the bill, and one related to old age security, or it would actively work to bring down the minority government.
Perron brought up supply management on Oct. 31.
Two senators appointed by the prime minister are blocking Bill C-282.
“It is a direct attack on democracy,” he said. Letting these guys get away with it means turning back the clock on three centuries of democracy.”
National Revenue and former Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau responded and re-affirmed the government’s support for supply management.
“We supported it. Many of us in the House have tried to encourage our colleagues in the Senate to act much more quickly. We are calling on them loudly and clearly to do their due diligence. We want it to come back here as soon as possible,” she said.
The Bloc kept up the pressure about Bill C-282 on Nov. 1.
When asked about the bill, current minister of agriculture Lawrence MacAulay replied by reminding the House that a Liberal government first implemented supply management.
“My hon. colleague is well aware that over the last 50 years, we have fully supported the supply management program,” MacAulay said. “We have supported and will continue to support the supply management program, and push our colleagues in the other place to pass Bill C-282.”