Ipsos conducted a poll on behalf of Dairy Farmers of Canada
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
Three out of four Canadians support supply management, a new poll has found.
Ipsos conducted the poll of 1,000 adults between April 26 and 27 on behalf of Dairy Farmers of Canada.
The majority (75 per cent) of respondents “believe the Canadian dairy sector should be defended,” Ipsos said in a statement yesterday.
The same number say the government should do more during NAFTA renegotiations to protect the dairy industry, and 80 per cent of respondents “share dairy farmers’ concerns regarding the NAFTA renegotiations.”
Dairy farmers are pleased with the poll results but aren’t surprised that Canadian consumers support them.
“We’re very excited to see that and it shows what we already knew – that our consumers are appreciative of our high-quality milk,” Bonnie den Haan, a producer from Simcoe County, told Farms.com today.
Canadians also feel that U.S. dairy products should be held to the same standards as Canadian dairy, the poll found.
Nine out of 10 respondents agreed holding U.S. dairy to a higher standard “should be part of the terms of the new NAFTA agreement,” the survey said.
These results reaffirm that the supply management system works, den Haan said.
“Consumers like to buy Canadian milk because the product is highly regulated,” she said. “It gives them assurance that they’re purchasing the best products and that farmers are being paid fairly to produce it.”
The United States continues to target Canada’s dairy sector during NAFTA discussions.
But Canadian negotiators have stood firm, calling the issue a “non-starter” on multiple occasions.
The poll shows 60 per cent of respondents indicated the government’s ability to protect supply management may impact the way they vote in an election.
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