>dairy quotas
It just dawned on me why Canada cannot make any concessions on dairy tariffs with Trump. As everyone is talking about it particularly Bernier it becomes evident that the Quebec dairy industry is throwing its weight around and having far more influence on Canada's trade policy than the numbers would indicate. How is this?
My late friend Dr. D…. used to talk to me about his family contacts in Montreal. Who is the biggest power in Quebec's dairy industry?
Saputo. ….that is Montreal Mafia. He knew these people. In fact he claimed to be related to the Rizzutos and knew the Saputos personally though he could have been BSing me there…Hard to always tell with that guy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saputo_Inc.
Master cheesemaker Giuseppe Saputo, his son Lino Saputo and family immigrated to Montreal from Montelepre, Italy in the early 1950s. In September 1954, Lino convinced his father to start his own business. Using $500 to buy some basic equipment and a bicycle for deliveries, the Saputo family founded a cheesemaking company bearing its name. In 1957, Saputo's first sizable production facility was built in Montreal's Saint-Michel neighbourhood. Saputo went through considerable growth in the 1960s and 1970s as demand for its products increased. It became Canada's largest producer of mozzarella in the 1980s
Regardless of whether it's Conservatives, Liberals, or NDP this shows you what kind of people are dictating policies to the government and how it affects all of us. Evidently our auto industry doesn't have as much pull in Canada's halls of power even though it's a much bigger industry that employs a lot more people.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/saputo-forced-to-fight-old-battle/article1368621/
A suspect in an Italian police investigation into Montreal Mafia kingpin Vito Rizzuto says he made up the connection he had with the Montreal cheese magnate Lino Saputo. Read the full story .
He transformed his Italian immigrant father's humble cheese-making business into a global dairy-and-bakery conglomerate, built a reputation as one of Quebec's shrewdest entrepreneurs and now sits atop a family fortune estimated at $1.4-billion.
But Lino Saputo's rise to wealth and status as a celebrated entrepreneur and philanthropist has been shadowed over the years by unsubstantiated allegations of links between his company, Saputo Inc., and the Italian mob.
The family-owned business - which went public 10 years ago - has suffered knocks to its reputation in the past because of the unproved allegations but always managed to repair the damage and continue on its prosperous way.
Now, at the age of 70, Mr. Saputo finds himself once again fighting allegations that his Montreal-based company has ties to the Mafia.
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/lino-saputo/
In 1964, Lino sought to convince his father to expand and modernize the company operations, particularly after touring the Grande Cheese Co. of Wisconsin, owned by a Sicilian American, Giovanni (John) DiBella. DiBella initially agreed to personally invest in Saputo’s operations, but then connected the Saputo family to Joseph Bonanno, a New York-based mobster. Bonanno agreed to invest $8,000 in exchange for a 20 per cent stake in the firm. The Saputo family was reportedly unaware Bonanno was a Mafia boss until reading about it in local newspapers. Though they expressed shock about Bonanno’s criminal ties and immediately broke off the deal, the Saputo family would occasionally struggle with allegations of Mafia connections. These allegations formed part of the context of a raid on the company’s factory by Montréal police in 1972, eventually leading to a total of $350 in fines for health violations — but no proven connections. Nonetheless, the rumours may have been a factor in the Ontario Milk Commission’s decision to reject the company’s effort to open an Ontario cheese factory in 1976.