Mark Carney's economic agenda misses something vital
Matthew Mendelsohn is the CEO of Social Capital Partners, a Canadian policy non-profit dedicated to tackling wealth concentration and to broadening access to wealth, ownership and economic security for workers.
The Carney government's early economic growth priorities have been clear for months. The details can be found in the Building Canada Act, which makes way for big, national infrastructure projects, biased heavily toward natural resources and energy.
This is perfectly reasonable for an early growth agenda, so long as Indigenous rights are respected. But it misses something important: how to increase Canadian ownership of Canadian assets and ensure that more Canadians stand to benefit.
Opinion articles are based on the author's interpretations and judgments of facts, data and events. More details
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Global News
an hour ago
- Global News
Jersey Milk chocolate bars being discontinued amid low consumer demand
See more sharing options Send this page to someone via email Share this item on Twitter Share this item via WhatsApp Share this item on Facebook Mondelez Canada Inc. says it's no longer producing Jersey Milk chocolate bars. Spokesperson Pierina De Carolis says the confectionary company's decision to cut the product came after a portfolio review showed consumers have shifted to buying other pure milk chocolate bars like Cadbury Dairy Milk. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy De Carolis says in an email that Jersey Milk was only produced in Canada. She adds the end of its production will not result in any job cuts. Jersey Milk dates back to 1924, when it was developed by Canadian dairy brand William Neilson Ltd. A series of acquisitions left the bar under the purview of Mondelez International, which has a downtown Toronto Cadbury chocolate factory, employing nearly 400 workers.
2 hours ago
New supply management law won't save the system from Trump, experts say
A new law meant to protect supply management might not be enough to shield the system in trade talks with a Trump administration bent on eliminating it, trade experts say. It's certainly more difficult to strike a deal with the United States now with the passage of this bill that basically forces Canada to negotiate with one hand tied behind its back, said William Pellerin, a trade lawyer and partner at the firm McMillan LLP. Now that we've removed the digital service tax, dairy and supply management is probably the No. 1 trade irritant that we have with the United States. That remains very much unresolved. When U.S. President Donald Trump briefly paused trade talks with Canada on June 27 over the digital services tax — shortly before Ottawa capitulated by dropping the tax — he zeroed in on Canada's system of supply management. In a social media post, Trump called Canada a very difficult country to TRADE with, including the fact that they have charged our Farmers as much as 400% Tariffs, for years, on Dairy Products. Canada can charge about 250 per cent tariffs on U.S. dairy imports over a set quota established by the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA). The International Dairy Foods Association, which represents the U.S. dairy industry, said in March that the U.S. has never come close to reaching those quotas, though the association also said that's because of other barriers Canada has erected. What Trump gets wrong about Canada-U.S. dairy trade (new window) When Bill C-202 passed through Parliament last month, Bloc Quebecois MPs hailed it as a clear win protecting Quebec farmers from American trade demands. The Bloc's bill, which received royal assent on June 26, prevents the foreign affairs minister from making commitments in trade negotiations to either increase the tariff rate quota or reduce tariffs for imports over a set threshold. Employing the 'royal prerogative' On its face, that rule would prevent Canadian trade negotiators from offering to drop the import barriers that shield dairy and egg producers in Canada from price shocks. But while the law appears to rule out using supply management as a bargaining chip in trade talks with the U.S., it doesn't completely constrain the government. Pellerin said that if Prime Minister Mark Carney is seeking a way around C-202, he might start by looking into conducting the trade talks personally, instead of leaving them to Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand. Carney dismissed the need for the new law during the recent election but vowed to keep supply management off the table in negotiations with the U.S. WATCH | PM says scrapping digital services tax is part of negotiations: Début du widget Widget. Passer le widget ? Fin du widget Widget. Retourner au début du widget ? Scrapping digital service tax is part of U.S. negotiations, Carney says Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Monday that scrapping the digital services tax was one part of the bigger trade negotiation with the U.S., though the White House said Carney 'caved' when trade talks were cancelled. Talks have since resumed. Pellerin said the government could also address the trade irritant by expanding the number of players who can access dairy quotas beyond processors. [C-202] doesn't expressly talk about changing or modifying who would be able to access the quota, he said. Expanding access to quota, he said, would likely lead to companies like grocery stores being able to import U.S. cheeses, and that would probably please the United States to a significant degree. Carleton University associate professor Philippe Lagassé, an expert on Parliament and the Crown, said the new law doesn't extend past something called the royal prerogative — the ability of the executive branch of government to carry out certain actions in, for example, the conduct of foreign affairs. That suggests the government isn't constrained by the law, he said. I have doubts that the royal prerogative has been displaced by the law. There is no specific language binding the Crown and it would appear to run contrary to the wider intent of the [law that it modifies], he said by email. That said, if the government believes that the law is binding, then it effectively is. As defenders of the bill insisted, it gives the government leverage in negotiation by giving the impression that Parliament has bound it on this issue. He said a trade treaty requires enabling legislation, so a new bill could remove the supply management constraints. The bill adds an extra step and some constraints, but doesn't prevent supply management from eventually being removed or weakened, he said. Killing system a non-starter in Canadian politics Trade lawyer Mark Warner, a principal at MAAW Law, said Canada could simply dispense with the law through Parliament if it decides it needs to make concessions to, for example, preserve the auto industry. The argument for me that the government of Canada sits down with another country, particularly the United States, and says, 'We can't negotiate that because Parliament has passed a bill,' — I have to tell you, I've never met an American trade official or lawyer who would take that seriously, Warner said. My sense of this is it would just go through Parliament, unless you think other opposition parties would bring down the government over it. While supply management has long been a target for U.S. trade negotiators, the idea of killing it has been a non-starter in Canadian politics for at least as long. Warner said any attempt to do away with it would be swiftly met with litigation, Charter challenges and provinces stepping up to fill a federal void. The real cost of that sort of thing is political, so if you try to take it away, people are screaming and they're blocking the highways and they are calling you names, and the Bloc is blocking anything through Parliament — you pay a cost that way, he said. Carney promised big changes by Canada Day. Has he delivered? (new window) But a compromise on supply management might not be that far-fetched. The system itself won't be dismantled. I don't think that's anywhere near happening in the coming years and even decades, said Pellerin. But I think that there are changes that could be made, particularly through the trade agreements, including by way of kind of further quotas. Further reduction in the tariffs for outside quota amounts and also in terms of who can actually bring in product. The United States trade representative raised specific concerns about supply management in the spring, citing quota rules established under the CUSMA trade pact that are not being applied as the U.S. expected and ongoing frustration with the pricing of certain types of milk products. Former Canadian diplomat Louise Blais said that if Canada were to respect the spirit of CUSMA as the Americans understand it, the problem might actually solve itself. We jump to the conclusion that it's dismantlement or nothing else, but in fact, there's a middle ground, she said. While supply management has long been a target for U.S. trade negotiators, the idea of killing it has been a non-starter in Canadian politics for at least as long. Warner said any attempt to do away with it would be swiftly met with litigation, Charter challenges and provinces stepping up to fill a federal void. The real cost of that sort of thing is political, so if you try to take it away, people are screaming and they're blocking the highways and they are calling you names, and the Bloc is blocking anything through Parliament — you pay a cost that way, he said. Carney promised big changes by Canada Day. Has he delivered? (new window) But a compromise on supply management might not be that far-fetched. The system itself won't be dismantled. I don't think that's anywhere near happening in the coming years and even decades, said Pellerin. But I think that there are changes that could be made, particularly through the trade agreements, including by way of kind of further quotas. Further reduction in the tariffs for outside quota amounts and also in terms of who can actually bring in product. The United States trade representative raised specific concerns about supply management in the spring, citing quota rules established under the CUSMA trade pact that are not being applied as the U.S. expected and ongoing frustration with the pricing of certain types of milk products. Former Canadian diplomat Louise Blais said that if Canada were to respect the spirit of CUSMA as the Americans understand it, the problem might actually solve itself. We jump to the conclusion that it's dismantlement or nothing else, but in fact, there's a middle ground, she said. Kyle Duggan (new window) · The Canadian Press
CTV News
2 hours ago
- CTV News
Mondelez Canada discontinuing Jersey Milk chocolate bars amid low consumer demand
TORONTO — Mondelez Canada Inc. says it's no longer producing Jersey Milk chocolate bars. Spokesperson Pierina De Carolis says the confectionary company's decision to cut the product came after a portfolio review showed consumers have shifted to buying other pure milk chocolate bars like Cadbury Dairy Milk. De Carolis says in an email that Jersey Milk was only produced in Canada. She adds the end of its production will not result in any job cuts. Jersey Milk dates back to 1924, when it was developed by Canadian dairy brand William Neilson Ltd. A series of acquisitions left the bar under the purview of Mondelez International, which has a downtown Toronto Cadbury chocolate factory, employing nearly 400 workers. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 7, 2025. Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press
