Promised milk discounts for N.B. consumers are a no-show so far 

Rules that effectively make low prices for milk against the law in New Brunswick are so strict they have been thwarting even those in charge of setting prices from devising effective ways to deliver discounts to consumers.

Schemes developed by the New Brunswick Farm Products Commission and launched two months ago to deliver cheaper milk to the public this summer had not produced any discounts anywhere in the province as of mid July according to the body's acting general manager Jim Mockler.

"To date, the commission has not received an application to take advantage of any of the approved promotions," said Mockler in an email to CBC News.

Milk prices in New Brunswick are regulated by the Farm Products Commission and in some critical product areas, those prices are among the highest in Canada.

In May, according to Statistics Canada, the average cost to buy a four-litre jug, or four one-litre bags, of milk in New Brunswick was $8.31. Next door in Nova Scotia, the same products were selling for $6.97. Nationally, the average price was $6.45.

Milk is a staple food in households across Canada, particularly in households with children but in New Brunswick, high costs make it difficult for many to afford. 

Emily Muir oversees the operation of the St. Stephen food bank and said demand for milk at the facility is high given the number of people who cannot afford to buy it on their own. 

But the cost of milk is also a problem for the charity.

"Some people do heavily rely on us for that so that means they go without," said Muir.

"We get one shipment a month of dairy, which would probably do about 25 to 30 families. I'd love to see the cost go down so that we could make it more accessible." 

In January in a presentation at the legislature, the Farm Products Commission told MLAs it had been working on a series of promotions to allow some price discounting of milk beginning in June, which it said it expected retailers would embrace.

"I don't want to get into too many details but the feedback with respect to those promotions has been outstanding," Mockler told MLAs.

"We are keeping in mind the effect that this is having on consumers and we are trying to improve upon pricing as best as we can."

But to date, the initiative has generated no detectable improvement in pricing, and price differences between New Brunswick and most other provinces remain wide.