[Hehe]

I focused on dairy because it was a clear example. But the same thing can be said in many other oligopolies/monopolies we have.

The original intention of these artificial barriers was to ensure an industry can be sustained even given the much smaller CDN market.

However, the system no longer need to be in place and all they are doing is hurting the industry.

US chose to subsidize their dairy industry instead of going supply management. Meaning that everyone pay their share of supporting the industry. The riches pay more, while poor pays little to none. Everyone pay a low price at local stores. As for diversity, at any sizable supermarket in US, you can find at least 8 or more options for milk alone (and I mean same milk, say whole milk vs. other whole milk in different brand/size/grade). Fancier supermarket like Wholefood would have like 20 (I'm not exaggerating) of anything from regular to super organic grass-fed shit.

We, otoh, make everyone paying higher price at store. The poor effectively pay a disproportional share of the subsidy. We have only a few brands and types to choose from.

The supply management was originally created to sustain the dairy industry without making a huge hole in the gov't budget while allowing SMALL FARMS to survive.

We now have the fewest amount of farms (just a tad over 10k last time I read, down from around 30/40k in the 80s) with the majority of the quota being bought by big corporations. Thus, you really have to wonder, are we really protecting the farmers or just the interest of a few companies that hire farmers.

I am all in support of a Canadian industry (not just dairy... but anything), but I despise any regulation that serves no meaningful purpose other than creating an unfair advantage to a small group of people. Set it free and let it roam.