CORNWALL — Is the provincial government doing enough to promote Ontario-inspected beef, and is the apparent reluctance of large grocery chains to buy provincially-inspected meat causing further damage to the economy of rural Ontario?
That concern was brought to the attention of Ontario’s Minister of Economic Development and Trade, Joe Cordiano, during a roundtable discussion with local officials in this Seaway Valley city May 27.
Cordiano was advised that large grocery retailers are favouring federally-inspected beef over provincially-inspected beef.
Derrick Moodie, executive director of the Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Community Futures Development Corporation, told the minister that the trend made it more difficult to establish new slaughterhouses in Ontario — bad news for the hard-hit beef sector and the economy of rural Ontario in general.
Moodie linked the issue to the Aylmer beef scare and suggested the province needed to do more to "rehabilitate" the brand image of Ontario-inspected beef.
Speaking to The AgriNews afterward, the York South-Weston MPP pointed to measures the McGuinty government had already taken on the issue. "I don’t want to be too partisan, but under the previous government, meat inspectors were cut. We’ve reinstated some of that. We’ve added funding, we’ve added new meat inspectors. I know the minister of agriculture has been working on additional plans for slaughterhouses and additional funding."
Asked if he believed the Aylmer meat scare had impeded the development of additional slaughterhouse capacity in Ontario, he replied, "Well, it’s hurt us to be sure, and the government has responded by adding more inspectors, and funding them as public servants, because the previous government was contracting that out. We’ve changed that."
However, Ontario Cattlemen’s Association executive director Dave Stewart, reached afterward by telephone, denied that Ontario-inspected beef has suffered from image problems. Large retailers do prefer federally-inspected beef, he acknowledged, but that has nothing to do with Aylmer and everything with rules governing inter-provincial trade. Ontario-inspected meat can’t be shipped outside of Ontario.
"They (large retailers) have distribution centres that ship across provincial lines, and they have HACCP control programs to ensure safety ... What they’re saying is they don’t want provincially inspected meat in their distribution centres because they might accidentally ship it out of province, and they don’t want to break the law."
The OCA has already raised the issue with the government, said Stewart.
"Yes, it’s something we’re working on. We’re arguing that because provincial inspections are so good, they should be able to ship inter-provincially."
Expanding the market access of Ontario-inspected meat would be a good thing for producers, he said, because it would increase processor competition.
Chesterville plant
The idea of converting Nestlé Canada’s Chesterville factory into a 200,000-square-foot killing plant was also brought up during the Cornwall session, and Cordiano pledged to raise the matter with his colleague, Steve Peters, Minister of Agriculture and Food.
In May, Nestlé announced the 2006 closure of its oldest Canadian plant, located in Chesterville, in a move that will throw 300 people out of work.
Ethanol hopelessness
The minister also received several complaints about lack of progress on the Cornwall ethanol plant, with North Dundas Township Mayor Alvin Runnalls describing the ongoing wait for construction to start "a disgrace."
South Dundas Township Mayor Lyle Van Allen echoed that frustration. "The ethanol plant seems to be going absolutely nowhere," said Van Allen, suggesting it was indicative of Ontario agriculture’s overall plight. "Once again, it just seems hopeless.
"Agriculture is one of the most important industries in Canada, and something has to be done for agriculture here, or we’re going to be buying all our food off shore. And I don’t think anyone wants that."
Cordiano promised to follow up with his federal counterparts on restarting the flow of dollars into the ethanol project. "It really needs federal funding, which was in the pipeline but got stalled," he admitted.
Subsidy gap
South Glengarry Township Mayor Jim McDonell recounted how corn growers in his municipality, located on the Quebec border, received $90 a tonne for their crop last year. Meanwhile, their neighbours to the immediate east received $180 a tonne, thanks to richer subsidies in La Belle Province, he told the minister.
In a moment of candor, Cordiano bitterly suggested that Quebec "seems to have a lot of money to throw at things," after recalling how an Eastern Ontario business had been lured to relocate there a few years ago.
Referring to agriculture in general, the minister commented, "I know we need to do a lot more. We need to ensure there’s going to be sustainability on the farm."
From the Archives:
News, June 2005
