Ontario Premier Doug Ford dropped into the 2026 Dairy Farmers of Ontario annual meeting to pledge his support for supply management.
“We’ll stand and fight day after day, but we’re never giving up supply management as long as I’m premier,” Ford said to dairy farmers, pledging to support the federal government’s maintenance of supply management in upcoming trade talks with the United States.
Why it matters: American President Donald Trump has made reform around dairy trade a priority in the future renegotiation of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA).
Ford told dairy farmers meeting in Toronto on Jan. 14 that he recognizes that agriculture and food is the largest employment sector in Ontario.
“It’s even larger than the auto sector by far,” he said, “even though I love the auto sector.”
There are about 900,000 jobs in agriculture and agrifood in the province, but 500,000 in the auto sector.
Ford is a chief cheer leader of the auto sector as it is threatened by American President Donald Trump.
Dairy Farmers of Ontario board chair Mark Hamel said Ford’s support of supply management has been “loud, sincere and committed”.
Ford chugged a glass of chocolate milk, at the podium and said he drinks a large volume of it each day, touted the government’s investment in dairy processing, including $27 million invested in Ontario ice cream-maker Chapmans in September 2025.
Ford encouraged farmers to focus on what they can control in developing their businesses.
“I mentioned this to the Prime Minister and the premiers, stop stop worrying about Trump. Let’s start focusing on what we can do. Start focusing on what we can produce.
“We should never take a back seat to anyone and we sure the heck shouldn’t take a back seat to President Trump,” said Ford.
Ford was the first premier to address the Dairy Farmers of Ontario annual meeting in recent memory.
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