Danielle Smith says pulling Alberta out of supply management is worth considering

National Post

17-07-2025

OTTAWA — Canada's dairy and poultry supply management regime could face a major challenge from within with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith saying she could consider the province exiting the quota system.
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Smith said at a town hall in Red Deer, Alta., that she found the idea of the province opting out of supply management intriguing.
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'(C)reating our own Alberta version of supply management, maybe as a pathway to a market system and maybe just because it would stick our finger in the eye of Quebec … might be (something) we want to do a little consultation on,' said Smith.
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Smith noted that Alberta's share of the Canada-wide quotas for dairy and egg production allotted under supply management falls below its share of the population.
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Her comments came after one of the attendees, Lee Eddy, a resident of Red Deer County, said earlier in the evening that pulling out of the system would be one way for Alberta to grab the attention of Laurentian power brokers. The town hall was being held as part of Smith's Alberta Next panel, struck to consider tactics for enhancing Alberta's sovereignty.
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'If we really want to make the eastern politicians … change their underwear, we should remove our supply management from the Canadian system,' said Eddy.
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Quebec producers hold roughly 37 per cent of Canada's total milk quota, with Ontario producers holding 32 per cent, according to Agriculture and Agri-Foods Canada. Producers in the two provinces have exerted considerable clout over politicians, given their concentration in certain ridings.
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Alberta producers hold just short of nine per cent, despite the province representing more than 11 per cent of the national population.
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Eddy suggested that Alberta move first to a transitional provincial quota system and eventually to a market-based system.
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Supply management has emerged as a major trade irritant with the U.S., further complicating already delicate cross-border trade negotiations.
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During the recent federal election, Carney promised to keep supply management 'off the table' in new trade negotiations with the U.S. Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has also said he supports supply management.
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Sylvain Charlebois, director of the Agri-Foods Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University, says that Alberta's relative lack of skin in the dairy-quota game gives it a freer hand to take on supply management.