THE $100 million canola crushing plant proposed by James Richardson International is good news for the canola industry, and it will be even better news if the Canadian company decides to locate its plant in Saskatchewan or Manitoba.
The Canadian prairies are a logical place for the plant, with its proven ability to produce quantities of quality canola and its abundance of willing sellers. With an anticipated capacity of 840,000 tonnes, or 10 percent of Canada’s annual crop, supply is no small consideration.
The plant would provide a boost to the domestic canola industry by increasing market competition and putting a firmer foundation under future canola prices. Besides the construction jobs and spin-
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offs that would accrue during the building phase, the plant would also create permanent jobs and ancillary benefits to nearby communities.
Smart money in the industry suggests Saskatchewan has the advantage over Manitoba or North Dakota, the other locations under consideration in JRI’s selection process.
But the wild card that will determine a Canadian rather than an American location is the federal government’s biofuel policy, which has been promised this fall.
The United States has for years provided incentives and subsidies to encourage and enlarge its biofuel industry, with excellent results. Our southern neighbours are well ahead of us in biofuel production, to the point where some fear Canada may miss the boom and, through tardiness of government action, relegate itself to raw product supplier.
A Canadian policy that specifically encourages production and use of biodiesel could help convince JRI to locate its plant in Canada.
Such a national mandate would provide that company and other crushers with more markets for canola oil and in turn increase price competition and markets for Canadian growers.
Domestic sales opportunities would be added to existing opportunities to supply oil to Europe’s burgeoning biofuel appetite.
There is pressure, and rightly so, on the Conservative government to announce a policy quickly, before its self-imposed fall deadline and before any prospective players in the biofuel value chain make plans that exclude Canada.
Agriculture minister Chuck Strahl has promised action, and that action is needed soon.
He made a good start on it July 17, with the announcement of $11 million to help farmers and rural communities get involved in the industry. That will help ensure that primary producers realize benefits beyond those associated only with supply.
There’s no shortage of good ideas about what the policy should include. The important thing now is for the government to announce a policy that will encourage all players in the Canadian biofuel value chain.
