Canada's Milk Mafia getting in the way of a deal, tow trucks and guns, and Bradford's big move...

We are currently letting a small group of farmers dictate terms of trade for every other industry.

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There are fewer than 10,000 dairy farmers in Canada and they are currently getting in the way of a new trade deal with the United States, or with any other country. The Milk Mafia, especially their Quebec branch, has an odd hold on Canadian politics.

As I wrote about in the Toronto Sun, Parliament just passed Bill C-202 making it illegal to have any supply managed industries – dairy, eggs or chicken – as part of the negotiations.

Any decent trade deal with the U.S., the U.K. or any other country will need to include dairy access, but the Milk Mafia says no, and politicians are afraid to take them on. That’s why the whims of less than 10,000 dairy farmers matter more than the wishes of 70,000 grain farmers, auto workers or oil and gas workers.

Between that and clinging to the Digital Services Tax, which needs to go, it’s like the Carney Liberals want a fight with the Americans rather than a deal.

Bradford makes a move...

Just after my column saying John Tory shouldn’t run for mayor of Toronto, I got word of an interesting and impressive meeting held by one of the contenders.

Brad Bradford held a lunch time meeting with over 60 people at the Royal York Hotel in downtown Toronto on Wednesday. I won’t give all the names here, you can read that in my column in the Sun, but suffice to say it was an impressive group.

For any candidate to defeat NDP-backed Olivia Chow, they will need to unite Liberals and Conservatives in large numbers. Bradford’s meeting brought together people who have backed or worked with Pierre Poilievre, Justin Trudeau, Doug Ford, Mark Carney and Bonnie Crombie as well as backers of several former mayoral candidates like John Tory.

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Something about tow trucks and guns...

I’m not a criminal, so I don’t get the weird connection between the towing industry and criminals with guns, but we’ve had a second big bust in a week in the GTA on this front. My colleague Jack Boland wrote about this and it’s fascinating.

According to Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw, 13% of all firearms incidents in Toronto last year were tow truck related.

What to read...

Lorne Gunter is on the same page as me, the Conservatives shouldn’t be backing Carney’s big power grab in Bill C-5. Unfortunately, it looks like they took the bait and will back the flawed bill to get major project built even as it grants the government far too much power.

A major union for civil servants is backing the mullahs in Iran by sponsoring a rally in support o `f the Islamic Republic this weekend. Warren Kinsella details all the problems with that stance and offers some advice to members of CUPE Ontario on how to decertify their union.

Finally, John Robson compares Mark Carney’s words on the Israel-Iran war to Donald Trump’s actions. You won’t be surprised to find that Robson finds Carney’s words wanting.