WINNIPEG — Canadian pork producers are part of the country’s largest farm organization once again.
The Canadian Pork Council last week rejoined the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, which it left in 2013 over trade policy.
CPC executive director Stephen Heckbert said the world has changed since then.
Trade uncertainty has pushed the Canadian agriculture sector to work together more often, and the board decided to rejoin the CFA to formalize the working relationship.
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“We’re going to try to have an influence on the CFA policy direction, and we want them to respect our policy direction,” he said in an interview.
“And we’re going to have to have some influence on our side from what their priorities are going to be as well.”
Heckbert said agriculture has a huge role to play in Canada’s growth potential. The new federal government should look to the industry for economic growth, he added.
“We have to be part of that conversation. We have to advocate for our own growth, and I think that’s why we can can look at, what are some of the simple steps we can take. One of those at the pork council was to go make more friends. And there happens to be a group of people (CFA) who wanted us to be their friend.”
The CPC will pay a membership to the CFA. Heckbert said producers have to be prepared to spend more to move ahead.
The CPC represents 7,000 farms in nine provinces. Newfoundland and Labrador is the exception.
CFA president Keith Currie said the addition of the CPC to the national organization helps create the strong unified voice the industry needs at this time.
CPC chair Rene Roy said the membership ensures pork producers are well represented nationally and internationally.
“Trade is vital to the success of Canadian agriculture, and by working together through the CFA, we can better advocate for strong trade frameworks that support farmers and rural communities across the country,” he said.
Ironically, it was trade that led the CPC to leave CFA 12 years ago, and it is trade that has brought it back.
Then, the council believed the supply managed sectors that favoured protectionism dominated the organization.
In a letter of withdrawal, the then-executive director said the council was “unwilling to carry on any longer with what for us seems to be a perpetual and often lonely struggle dealing with policy proposals brought to the CFA table and committees, particularly on international trade.”
Since that time, the CFA has seen general farm organizations such as Keystone Agricultural Producers and the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan take a more prominent role in policy development. It has also collaborated with other national associations such as the Canadian Cattle Association and others.
