There have been no concrete promises, but there are strong hints from the federal government that more help may be on the way for the battered cattle industry now facing a continuation of the ban that keeps Canadian cattle from entering the United States.
“The government of Canada has stood behind our livestock industry and we will continue to do so with the kinds of support that are required in the future,” agriculture minister Andy Mitchell told delegates to the Liberal party national convention March 5. “That’s an absolute commitment from the government of Canada.”
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In the House of Commons March 7, he said he was speaking for finance minister Ralph Goodale as well.
When Conservative leader Stephen Harper demanded a promise of emergency aid outside the Canadian Agricultural Income Stabilization program “because it does not work and does not deliver”, Mitchell accused him of trying to score “cheap political points.”
“The reality is there has been $1.9 billion beyond the CAIS that has been invested into the cattle and beef industry in this country,” said the agriculture minister. “As the minister of finance said, we stand by our industry and stand to make new investments as necessary.”
The Conservatives planned to trigger an emergency parliamentary debate on the issue later this week, but there was no firm date at Western Producer deadlines. Agriculture critic Diane Finley said the government should replace its “non-existent” loan loss reserve program with tax incentives to co-operatives trying to build plants.
She accused the Liberals of offering the industry “the sleeves off their vests.”
Ottawa also is signaling that it will not likely respond to the latest BSE setback by launching a trade challenge under the World Trade Organization or the North American Free Trade Agreement, as some in the cattle industry want.
Instead, ministers were suggesting the temporary injunction issued by a Montana court last week on border re-opening is proof that Canada should continue its policy of expanding the domestic packing capacity to make the country less dependent on an open border for live cattle.
In an interview, Mitchell said nothing has been ruled out but those who suggest a trade challenge could delay the opening by taking the heat of internal American processes may have a point.
“I’m not going to take any option off the table but there is some value to that analysis,” he said March 4. “It is not Canada versus the United States and that is what a trade challenge would imply. The U.S. government is on our side. We have to keep up the pressure to make sure they do the right thing to resolve this internal issue, because it is their internal problem.”
Provincial agriculture ministers meeting with Mitchell March 2-3 in Ottawa appeared to agree with that strategy. Not one said Canada should go to trade court.
“The reality is that the action was not taken by the government of the U.S.,” said Alberta agriculture minister Doug Horner. “It was action taken by a group of renegade ranchers. The fight really isn’t with the government of the United States.”
Manitoba minister Rosann Wowchuk said the ball is now in the American court.
“The ruling was against the U.S. Department of Agriculture so it is the Americans who have to come forward to tell us what steps they are going to take,” she said in a March 3 interview. “This very much enforces the need to look at our own market and our own slaughter capacity but also the need to look at other markets as well.”
Horner agreed.
“We want to ensure our industry is strong so it can handle any trade action that comes down the pipe in the future, that is balanced in terms of the processing capacity and raw material supplies, that we’re shipping supplies in a box as opposed to on the hoof,” he said. “We’re also going to be aggressive in our assistance to open new markets. We’ve kept our powder dry for awhile and now it is time to move on.”
