A classic set-piece political controversy is playing out yet again in Quebec.
asserted
controversy → play → Quebec
“Several Quebecers who were happy to have paid $2.99 for their dozen (large) eggs at Maxi last week were disappointed once they got home when they found that the eggs came from the United States,” we read.
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we → pay → States
TVA did not name or interview anyone who was thusly disappointed, though it did say the network had received several emails.
It all seems unbelievable, I know, especially in this day and age.
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I → name → day
But it’s true.
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it → ’ → ?
Just like it was true in 2025, and just like it was true in 2024 when similar stories about American egg imports surfaced in Quebec.
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stories → surface → Quebec
Canadian egg colossus Burnbrae Farms explains on its website: “On rare occasions, the available supply of eggs cannot meet the demand from our customers and on these occasions we will import eggs from the United States …
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we → explain → States
This (usually occurs) in high-demand times such as Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas.”
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This → occur → Easter
Eggs are protected by Canada’s supply-management system.
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Eggs → protect → system
And if you thought supply management was supposed to be “a system that balances supply and demand … through production setting (quota), price setting and import control as a means of avoiding overproduction and underproduction” (my italics), well, I can’t really blame you.
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I → think → you
That’s precisely what it says on the Farm Products Council of Canada’s website, after all.
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it → ’ → website
But as a well-to-do hip-replacement candidate might say, the U.S. is always there in a pinch.
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U.S. → say → pinch
No doubt there are at least a few hundred Canadians who care very deeply about the provenance of their eggs.
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who → be → eggs
I would expect such people to be quite knowledgeable egg shoppers.
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people → expect → ?
And I would have thought the first thing that would tip off a knowledgeable egg shopper that something was a bit special about these eggs — if it not the “USDA A Grade” stamp on the carton — would be the fact they only cost $2.99.
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they → think → 2.99
Alas, that’s not a Canadian price for a dozen eggs.
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that → ’ → eggs
Walmart in Montreal wants a minimum of $4.08 for a dozen large Canadian eggs.
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Walmart → want → eggs
Only if you buy 30 at a time you can match the Yankees’ per-egg cost.
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you → buy → cost
No, $2.99 is more like an American price for a dozen eggs, though you can find them considerably cheaper in the U.S., even once you convert to Canadian dollars.
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you → find → dollars
(For the record, you can buy a pack of large Canadian eggs at Maxi for $3 — but you only get six of them.)
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you → buy → them
Obviously eggs that cross the border, like all other agricultural products, must be certified safe according to Canadian standards.
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that → cross → standards
None of this angst makes any sense in any context except for the trade war with Washington.
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None → make → Washington
And a trade war with Washington necessarily makes less sense if you’re struggling to feed yourself or a family.
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you → make → yourself
Food bank usage has soared, as it has in many provinces.
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it → soar → provinces
Just how much are we willing to sacrifice?
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we → sacrifice → are
Build Canada, which describes itself as “a non-partisan civic movement (of) high-agency builders … who believe Canada can and should be the most prosperous country on earth,” released an in-house poll on Tuesday finding 75 per cent of respondents broadly preferred an elbows-up approach to Washington.
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cent → describe → Washington
That dropped to 37 per cent if it meant higher taxes, and 33 per cent if it meant a higher risk of jobs lost.
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it → drop → jobs
And you’ll never guess what: The older Canadians get, according to the Build Canada poll, the more willing they are to stick it out … although only 33 per cent of respondents were willing to stay the course if it meant any diminution in their retirement savings.
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it → guess → savings
Not that there’s really anyone to vote for, at any level, if you want unapologetically freer access to cheaper groceries.
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you → ’ → groceries
“We don’t need more American products,” Quebec Liberal leader Charles Milliard said in a video posted Sunday, ruling out any concessions whatsoever on supply management.
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Milliard → need → management
“We have all we need here to succeed.”
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we → have → all
Does he not read these articles about companies not having enough local eggs?
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companies → read → eggs
It is interesting that the offending brand of American eggs is Canadian: Burnbrae.
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brand → offend → eggs
The packages presumably meet all labelling requirements, but they certainly could be clearer in differentiating between American and Canadian.
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they → meet → American
And isn’t that what supply-managed Canadian producers presumably want?
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producers → manage → what
Burnbrae is one of the egg makers that regularly lobbies Ottawa to maintain the supply-management system.
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that → lobby → system
Yet it seems a bit off-message that when they can’t manage the demand, they slip American eggs into the same basic cartons in such a way that the casual egg shopper very likely would not notice.
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shopper → seem → way
(Luckily, anyone on a budget likely wouldn’t care.)
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anyone → care → budget
And this isn’t just a few emergency top-up eggs: 5.6 per cent of the eggs that showed up in Canada in 2024, whether for eating or for hatching, were imported from the U.S.
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that → top → U.S.
It’s hardly a leading example of the interconnectedness between the Canadian and American economies, and the fantasy of severing them, but it’s certainly an example.
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it → ’ → them
We’re not going to import fresh eggs from anywhere else.
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We → go → eggs
The Aporia
