EDMONTON – Alberta livestock producers are concerned the provincial government’s new $56 million meat and livestock agency will have too much control over the industry.
“We are not comfortable as an organization that is democratically elected, to have this meat agency superimposed on us and their appointment at the whim of the minister,” producer Gordon Graves said after a closed door delegates meeting held during the Alberta Beef Producers convention.
“We believe this is our industry and the democratic process is in place …. We have a concern that it’s government intervention in an industry when the conservative philosophy is not being in (the) business of being in business. We have a concern with the fact that at the whim of the minister, he can pick and choose the winners and losers. We have a concern that 100 plus years of heritage and us running our business in a free enterprise is being taken away from us.”
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ABP director Stuart Thiessen said he doesn’t know how the new agency will work when most meat leaves Canada as a Canadian product rather than a provincial one, and federal rules apply.
“We have no idea how we can be a nation within a nation. We’re fighting for free access through CAFTA (Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance), we’re fighting for free markets and here at home we’re creating interprovincial trade barriers. We’re very concerned about that.”
Alberta agriculture minister George Groeneveld said the agency creates a framework but individual producers will make their own business decisions within that framework. The agency will create a more co-ordinated effort guiding government funds and resources to ensure they are working toward the new strategic direction.
