Trans-Pacific Partnership consultations held by federal government on P.E.I.

About a dozen protesters rallied outside a Charlottetown hotel Thursday where discussions about the Trans-Pacific Partnership were being held.

MP David Lametti, the Parliamentary Secretary to the federal Minister of International Trade, is on P.E.I. to hear what Islanders think of the trade deal.

Despite the protests, he said the federal government has heard strong arguments from Maritimers both for and against the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

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"Certain industries are telling us they would be positively affected, for example the seafood industry in the Maritimes saying strongly they are looking at exports particularly to Asia,'' said Lametti.

"We have to try to assess those claims and put them alongside people also in the Maritimes who say, for example, in the supply-managed industries like dairy, this is going to hurt us."

Lametti said the government realizes opening 3.25 per cent of the Canadian dairy market to foreign competitors will have a negative impact on local farmers.

"If we decide to ratify we'll have to sit down with dairy and poultry and turkey and the other supply-managed industries and look at some form of compensation for a transition," Lametti said.

Cross-country consultations

The trade deal, which lowers tariffs nearly across the board for a group of 12 countries, was signed by the Trudeau government in February, but there is still time to back out before it is ratified.

That's why the government is holding consultations across the country, including forums Thursday at the Delta Hotel and UPEI. Lametti said signing the deal does not mean the government endorses it.

"Signing it enables us to take advantage of a two-year ratification period in order to look at every corner of the agreement and see whether, on balance, we think it's good for Canadians," he said.

"It's not a done deal, but there are 11 other important trading partners in this agreement. The United States and Mexico are our NAFTA partners, Japan is a huge economy, Vietnam is an emerging economy, we have a couple of South American economies in there that are important. It doesn't necessarily mean we are going to [ratify] it. It still has to on balance be good for Canada."

'A little bit of hope'

Leo Broderick of the Council of Canadians led the protest outside the Delta Hotel on Thursday.

"It's going to lower standards for the environment, it's going to increase pharmaceutical costs in this country, it's going to increase food insecurity, and certainly it's going to introduce into the Canadian market American milk which is laced with the bovine growth hormone which we banned many years ago," he said.

"Interesting in the United States, the leading candidates for the presidency [Bernie] Sanders, [Hillary] Clinton and [Donald] Trump are all opposed, so that offers a little bit of hope to stop this trade deal. It's a bad deal for Canadians."

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