OTTAWA — A federal cabinet minister asked the chair of a Senate committee to speed up the study of a Bloc Québécois private member’s bill aimed at protecting supply management from any new international trade negotiations but he refused, saying the government had no business telling the Senate what to do.

International Trade Minister Mary Ng twice wrote to Sen. Peter Boehm, who chairs the Senate committee on foreign affairs and international trade, to ask him to facilitate the adoption of Bill C-282, without success. Boehm is a former diplomat and was appointed to the Senate by Justin Trudeau in 2018.