Ottawa—Conservative Senator Don Plett has blasted the Trudeau government for letting the dairy sector down on the timing of the implementation of the new North American trade deal and opening it to millions of dollars of losses.Plett, the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, said when the government fast-tracked the CUSMA deal through Parliament in March in one day because of the impending shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it assured the Senate the deal wouldn't come into effect until Aug. 1.“Conservatives agreed to move forward on this legislation based on one important caveat: that the new deal come into force only after August 1, 2020. This date marks the beginning of the dairy calendar year, and had this date been respected, it would have allowed dairy industry to save about $100 million.”The Trudeau government “looked us straight in the eye and said they would not ratify this deal early,” said Plett, who is from Manitoba. “Since the United States also ratified the treaty last week, the treaty will now come into force on July 1.“The Trudeau government has decided they won't stand up to protect Canada's dairy industry. It's inexcusable that this solemn commitment to our dairy farmers now has to be added to the long list of broken promises made by the Trudeau government.“How can Canadians and parliamentarians trust this government when their words have no meaning?” he said. “This is completely outrageous. Prime Minister Trudeau has been preaching from Rideau Cottage that all of us need to take a Team Canada approach. Well, his government should lead by example, and defend the interests of all Canadians, including our hard-working farmers.”Jacques Lefebvre, CEO of Dairy Farmers of Canada, said, “Parliamentarians weren't the only ones misled by senior officials. We were told that we should not worry with Canada giving notice because the Americans and Mexicans were nowhere near to being ready to do the same.”Plett said the timing of the trade ratification was crucial to the dairy sector as 3.9 per cent of the Canadian market is now opened up to imports. “In contrast with the Trudeau Government, Conservatives actually took the time to hear the concerns raised by the dairy sector. We negotiated in good faith and insisted on the Aug. 1 timeframe, and we received a guarantee.“The deal for the agreement to come into effect July 1 is inexcusable. It's shameful that the interests of this vital industry that creates a significant number of good jobs, and therefore, the interests of all Canadians haven't been the government's priority,” Plett said.The Dairy Processors Association of Canada has estimated the early signing will represent $100 million in additional losses to the Canadian dairy industry in the 2020-21 dairy year. Long term, it will mean annual losses for dairy farmers of $190 million and $140 million for processors as well as $50 million annual losses for the industry due to the export caps placed on skim milk powder, milk protein concentrates and infant formula.Alex Binkley is a freelance journalist and writes for domestic and international publications about agriculture, food and transportation issues. He's also the author of two science fiction novels with more in the works.