Alberta farmers hope a report on their province’s beef industry, expected to be released this week, will answer their questions on the gap between what they get when they sell an animal and the price consumers pay in the grocery store.
The report Pricing in the Beef Industry was initiated in February by Alberta agriculture minister, Shirley McClellan, after growing rumblings of the price spread.
The report by agriculture department staff will investigate everything associated with the beef industry in 2003, from the amount producers were paid to what beef products can no longer be sold and the extra costs associated with the excess product.
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Arno Doerksen, chair of the Alberta Beef Producers, said they are looking forward to the answers.
“Hopefully some light will be shed on the whole issue,” said Doerksen.
Last week Alberta New Democrat MLA Brian Mason raised the issue of whether the $800 million of federal and provincial government money helped producers or ended up in the hands of the large packing plants.
Mason proposed that the provincial public accounts committee ask the auditor general to launch an investigation into how $400 million of the province’s BSE aid money was spent.
The provincial public accounts committee, made up of mainly Progressive Conservative members, rejected the idea. Some called the idea unpatriotic or grandstanding by the opposition, while others suggested the committee wait until the meat industry report is released this week.
It was all part of a week where many questions were asked of the provincial agriculture minister and premier Ralph Klein about whether the BSE aid programs were flawed.
Klein stormed out of a March 3 news conference, accusing the opposition and media of harming the beef recovery by not focusing on the benefits the government has initiated.
“That’s all I’m concerned about, did it help,” Klein said. “Yes, it did help. We tried to help. You know, we’re standing up here and we’re getting beat up for trying to help. I can’t understand you people. You people should be talking about how to get the borders open.
“I’ve had enough of this crap,” he said, and walked out of the news conference.
Doerksen said he knows the programs weren’t perfect, but he believes the aid money helped the industry keep afloat, pointing to one benefit being the prices the feedlots paid for calves last fall.
Gordon Graves of Iron River, Alta., doesn’t understand the reluctance of the Alberta government to investigate where the $400 million of taxpayers money went.
“Why not. What the hell are they hiding,” said Graves who thinks an investigation into the BSE aid money might help ease producers’ minds that packers didn’t take advantage of the BSE crisis.
