Chicken Farmers of Canada last week turned down a proposal from Saskatchewan that the province be able to expand its chicken production by 50 percent next year.
Provincial agriculture minister Eric Upshall reacted with outrage. He vowed to appeal.
“It’s just not fair,” he said in a July 20 interview from Victoria. “We’re not going to be handcuffed by an agreement that does not allow us to expand production in a place where it’s most logical to expand production.”
He said it is an attempt by Eastern Canada to keep its traditional share of the market.
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At a meeting of CFC directors in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan proposed that between Jan. 17 and Aug. 28, 1999, it be able to expand production to 375,000 birds per week from 250,000.
This would be an “exceptional circumstance” increase on top of an eight percent growth rate assigned to the Prairies since a new chicken allocation agreement took effect in the spring.
CFC directors turned down the request.
“A lot of people listened and most of them couched their votes … there was a lot of support for it in wanting to work with Saskatchewan to grow the industry within the supply-managed system,” CFC general manager Mike Dungate said July 20 from his Ottawa office.
“The stumbling block was that people were not clear exactly what the implications were going to be and more work was needed, but the door wasn’t closed.”
He said Saskatchewan proposed to start the expansion Jan. 17 so there is time for the province to do more work and to make another request to the directors this autumn.
Saskatchewan has argued its share of national production quota should increase faster because the 1995 loss of the Crow Benefit lowered feed prices, stripped the province of a major grain-based benefit and encouraged diversification.
It now must be allowed to take advantage of those lower prices to diversify, agriculture minister Eric Upshall has argued.
Last week at the federal-provincial agriculture ministers’ meeting in Ontario, Upshall once again voiced his criticism of supply management and the difficulty Saskatchewan has had in winning the right to produce more regulated products.
Ministers approved a project to subject supply management rules to their most significant revision in a quarter century.
In the past, the province has hinted it would consider working outside the supply managed system if it cannot grow inside it.
