Dairy farmers take trade protest to Parliament Hill with cow and tractors in tow

Dairy farmer Chris Ryan unhitches a hay-lined covered trailer on Wellington Street andreleaseshis cow Ninjaunder the shadow of Parliament Hill.

The St. Isidore, Ont., farmer was one of dozens that took part in an eastern Ontario tractor parade to downtown Ottawa this morning, as dozens more made their way from Montebello, Que., in anongoing protestforstricter controls on cross-border trade and compensation for international agreements dairy farmers say have left them at a disadvantage.

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In particular, farmers called for an end todiafilteredmilk a powdered protein product that enters Canada tariff-free from the United States because it is not considered to be real milk.

"To Justin Trudeau: Put on your boxing gloves and defend us from the U.S.A. and support your Canadian farmers," Ryan said.

Many farmerschanted,"forts etunis" (strong and united), as others held signs that read, "Stop creaming us." Hundreds wore matching blue T-shirts that read, "Canadian milk matters."

A group of farmers performed street theatre, somedumping powdered protein into buckets and mixing it as another begged them to stop on his knees.

About 2,000 people from Quebec and 1,000 from eastern Ontario travelled toParliament Hill for the protest, according to Dairy Farmers Canada.

A similar protest that saw cowsand tractors crowd downtown Ottawa streets in September 2015.

This time,Ninjawas the lone cow on Wellington Street.

"When she came out, she liked to jump around," Ryan said of the name as people lined up for a photo with the cow.

The eastern Ontarioconvoy, whichalso includedmilk trucks, madeits way from Vankleek Hill, Ont., on Wednesday morning, reachingParliament Hill via Bank Street around noon.

Another convoy of dairy farmers from Quebec passed though Montreal on Wednesday en route to Montebello.

The Quebec convoy left Montebello early this morning, making its way to Jacques-Cartier Park in Gatineau before joining the Ontario farmers on Parliament Hill.

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The former Conservative government negotiated a $4.3-billion deal with Canadian farm groups before theTrans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement was announced last Octoberbut it was not approved by the Treasury Board before theelection that brought in a new Liberal government.

The compensation package was meant to mitigate not just the TPP, but also theCanada-EU Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA).

St. Albert dairy farmerJasminBenoitsaid ahead of the rally on Wednesday thatthe government must "mitigate and compensate" farmers as the TPP and CETA agreements threaten their livelihoods at a time when they're already losing out on investments.

"The government is well aware of these issues,"Benoitsaid, addinghe is losing about $5,000 per month.

The uncertainty in the industry hasmade farmers more cautious when considering investments,Benoitsaid.

See a recap of rally here.