OTTAWA – Poultry and egg processors came to Parliament Hill last week saying they were there not to bury supply management but to urge its reform.
Marketing agencies must become more reliable suppliers of lower-cost chickens and eggs if the industry is to remain viable, the Canadian Poultry and Egg Processors’ Council told the Commons agriculture committee.
“The point of our visit here is not to claim we want to put an end to supply management or that the American system is best,” said Paul Ouellette of Flamingo Foods Inc. “We just want to say it has to keep changing.”
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However, the changes advocated by the processors sounded to some MPs like a recipe for ending the effectiveness of the system.
Council president Bob Anderson suggested the role of marketing boards be “redefined” to:
- Move chicken and egg pricing closer to American levels so Canadian processors can compete with cheaper imports.
- Reduce the control that farmers have over the boards.
- Reduce the regulations that govern relationships within the industry.
- Create a disputes settlement system to mediate when tensions build between marketing boards and their customers.
Anderson said the existing system promotes complacency and retards change in the industry.
Become market oriented
He urged the government to begin telling farmers and their marketing boards at every opportunity that they must change, become more market oriented, reduce the costs of their product and recognize they are selling into an increasingly competitive North American market.
“Emphasize that market realities are forcing change and not just trade wars,” he said.
Hank Lammers, general manager of the company Bon-EE Best Eggs, said the issue is not the system, but the way it operates.
“We’ve got to be more efficient,” he told MPs. “We’ve got to reduce our costs.”
Chicken producer and Ontario Liberal MP Murray Calder challenged the processor assumption that Canadian prices are higher. He cited figures indicating prices are higher in some American markets.
“I don’t think that the picture within supply management is as dark as you paint it,” he said.
The processors told MPs they also worried about the prospect of a sudden loss of protection if Canada loses its trade fight with the Americans over protective border tariffs.
Anderson urged the government to negotiate a phase-out of protections over a long period if it becomes necessary.
