Canadian dairy farmers took to the streets of Ottawa Tuesday to protest against the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade pact that could bring big changes to the Canadian economy.
The farmers brought traffic in central Ottawa to a standstill by driving a long line of tractors down Wellington Street past the Parliament buildings.
Wellington Street is completely jammed with tractors right now as dairy farmers protest TPP. So many tractors.
Wellington St is officially at a standstill. Scores of tractors.
There were fake cows.
About 3 dozen big tractors moving slowly up Wellington past parliament now
And real cows.
We got cows, folks. Cows at Parliament Hill. #ottnews @1310news
Just bein' a cow, doin' cow stuff. #ottnews @1310news
Not to mention some interesting smells.
Little bit of that fertilizer smell mixing with the ketchuppy odor of the Bank/Sparks McDonalds. #TPP #cbcott
The dairy lobby is one of Canada's most feared interest groups, and the industry benefits from the supply-management system that restricts imports of milk and cheese from other countries.
A bizarre sight in downtown #Ottawa, as about 60 tractors and hundreds of protesting dairy farmers clog Wellington.
These protections are also one of the biggest sticking points in the TPP talks. Ottawa has hinted for months, though, that it is wiling to loosen Canada's import rules in order to deliver on the larger deal, which the government says will result in billions of dollars in economic benefits across a wide swath of the economy.
Opponents of the TPP deal say it will loosen labour and environmental protections in Canada, raise the price of pharmaceuticals, restrict copyright rules, threaten crown corporations like the CBC, and a whole host of other criticisms.
The dairy farmers even dumped milk in the streets to show their frustration with the TPP talks.
Milk splashed on street outside of Parliament Hill. Farmers urge federal govt protect supply management. #cdnpoli
It's unclear how the cows felt about all this.
Can't have a dairy protest without some spilled milk. Farmers protest #TPP on Parliament Hill today.
The whole thing was kind of surreal. And incredible.
Parliament Hill cow twitter right now is like staring into a fire, impossible to look away.
Seriously, if you are Downtown Ottawa go walk down Wellington between Kent and Metcalf. Not everyday you see #cows downtown. #ottcity
Don't mess with the milk cartel. If you do, expect trouble.
