Think-tanks and idealists often speak highly of the benefits of deregulation – but the real world shows that abolition is risky at best.

Deregulation of agriculture in Australia has not benefited consumers, it has simply granted retailers the market power to squeeze farmers for every penny, while charging consumers prices that are markedly higher than prices in Canada. Dairy prices are soaring in New Zealand despite a plummeting world price.

This is because retailers – not farmers – set the retail price of food. And retailers are always going to charge what the market will bear irrespective of how much they’re paying at the farmgate.

Supply management guarantees jobs, stability and prosperity across much of rural Canada. It is too important to sacrifice in favour of risky economic experiments.