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by BETTER FARMING STAFF
The Ontario Agriculture Food and Rural Affairs Appeal Tribunal has brought changes to pork marketing in the province to a crawl, if not a complete halt.
In a ruling Friday, more than two months after a pre-hearing conference in Guelph Apr. 17, Tribunal Vice-chair Marthanne Robson ruled that a stay should remain on the Farm Products Marketing Commission’s order last October that stripped Ontario Pork of its marketing powers. If not for the appeals currently before the Tribunal, Regulation 419 would have been revoked and open marketing of hogs would have begun April 1.
Robson reluctantly allowed pilot projects on alternative ways to market hogs and make settlements to continue as long as they are within Regulation 419.
His client is pleased, says Elbert van Donkersgoed, acting as an agent for western Ontario farmer Rein Minnema, who first filed for a hearing against the Commission ruling, which stripped Ontario Pork of its marketing powers last October. Other producers and county organizations have appealed the Commission ruling since.
“The stay (on changes to marketing) is complete,” said van Donkersgoed. Robson “is allowing only marginal activities outside of the stay.” Most important, he says, Regulation 419 which governs marketing of hogs in Ontario, will remain unchanged. “We are very comfortable with changing things, based on Regulation 419,” he said.
“This is just what we need to go forward in what we think is a better direction than what the commission has for the pork sector,” van Donkersgoed said, after a quick read of the 13-page decision. “We can look forward to the kind of hearing we think should happen based upon this decision.”
The Tribunal has yet to decide if it will repeat the Commission hearings last summer, hear arguments on evidence presented then, or some variation in between. Robson ordered parties make submissions to the Tribunal within a week on this issue and gave parties and intervenors another six days to respond to those submissions.
Robson wrote that “the Commission. . . . proved no evidence of what irreparable damage the pork industry would suffer if the stay was not lifted.”
That wasn’t the only slap Robson had for the Commission.
Robson was also critical of the makeup and decisions made by the current, and controversial, Hog Industry Advisory Committee (HIAC). It wasn’t made up according to Regulation 419 but can continue to operate as long as it is under current regulations.
Van Donkersgoed, says he and Minnema are comfortable that the HIAC committee is allowed to operate “only as structured in the Current Regulation 419.”
Van Donkersgoed says he and Minnema didn’t mind the pilot projects continuing as far as 3P and Conestoga meat Packers was concerned. “Minnema won’t stand in the way of that,” he says, noting that producers must still pay marketing fees to Ontario Pork. BF
Comments
Its about time somone has come to knock this runaway train off its wheels. This whole issue pushed by FPMC has nothing to do about the pork industry and a few lone individuals, but rather a red feather in someones hat. Somthing smells rotten????
To all Canadian Citizens: June 22, 2009
Is it important for you to be able to go to a grocery store and purchase safe, high quality Canadian food? That simple convenience may soon be at risk.
Agriculture is less than 2% of the population. Farmers are quietly providing your food, whether it be wheat for your bread, meat for your BBQ, veggies because they are veggies or fruit for your dessert or wine. All we require is a fair price for our product at the end so we can continue to provide food for Canadians and the world. That ability is now being threatened for the pork industry.
The Canadian Pork industry is going into its third year of losses. Hog farmers have worked through government programs, improved productivity to be able to compete on the world markets, quietly re-mortgaged equity to pay for the shortfalls, laid off employees and then H1N1---infamously called Swine Flu---hit. Our prices dropped 20% in a two week period. It has been estimated the Ontario industry alone lost $8.4 million in one month. This comes at a time when summer markets had shown potential to be the turning point. The point where all of us who had re-mortgaged and re-structured saw some ray of hope.
Our industry has been losing $30.00 to $80.00 per hog over these three years on an animal that is worth an average of $150.00 to start with. We are based on the value of the US dollar. With every percentage the Canadian dollar increases our price is negatively affected. We are a free trading country and ironically, US pork is being imported to our grocery stores because they can supply at a discounted rate. Latest estimates are a ¼ of a million tonnes of pork are imported per year. This is the same country that has enacted the Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling. This piece of US legislation has negatively affected our ability to export live animals to the US. Our industry’s equity has taken the hit over the past 3 years.
If the Canadian pork industry is decimated, will there be a shortage of pork in grocery stores? Not likely. Some country will continue to supply consumers with the product irrelevant of food and safety protocols or the loss to the Canadian economy. What everyone fails to recognize is that it isn’t just pork farmers that lose in this situation. It is lending institutions, farm equipment operators, feed companies, smaller retailers, veterinarians, genetics companies and the list goes on. Did you know 70,000 jobs in Canada are a direct result of hog production? $3.2 billion in farm cash receipts. $2.7 billion in pork export sales, 42,000 jobs, $7.7 billion in economic activity and $2.1 billion in wages and salaries are directly attributed to export.
What do we want and need? Governments at all levels to recognize there is a crisis and action is required immediately. We want agriculture to be mentioned in the Government’s budget near the beginning—not as an after thought. Educate Canadians on what it means to have agriculture in Canada. Truth in labeling our products so you can make an educated choice when feeding your family and friends. Have government-owned institutions serve Canadian-grown products. Have programs in place to help our food banks serve balanced diets which include all sources of protein. Have farmers make a living without Government’s Support. Take a moment to think of what all agriculture does to enhance your life as a Canadian—hopefully at least 3 times a day.
At a meeting I attended of pork producers one comment was made on how eerily quiet we are. One producer likened us to the animal that doesn’t have a water source. It gets weaker and weaker and unable to get up. As farmers we believe in and love producing food for you and your families. We know the importance of doing a good job to ensure you get a safe, quality product on your plate. We are losing producers as we speak. We are just asking for someone to bring us “water” so we can gather our strength to stand up and be there for you.
Respectfully submitted, Teresa Van Raay, Pork Producer, South Western Ontario June 22, 2009
the arrogance of the individuals on the commision is very disturbing and no matter which side of the issue you are on you should question the wisdom of at least some part of the ruling. kudos to the appeals tribunal for taking a step back to dig a little deeper.
The commission should be commended for this decision. They provided leadership and a fair decision - for large and small producers.
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