 |
| Ontario Farm Products Marketing Commission |
During the public hearing the commission held, the Association of Ontario Chicken Processors (AOCP) and the Chicken Farmers of Ontario marketing board said this new advisory committee has patched up relationships between the farmers and processors and is making good progress on a proposal it hopes to present within a matter of weeks or months.
They both said that adding the OIPP would be "disruptive," but they could not point to a shred of evidence to back that claim.
He also testified that the OIPP and the chicken board staff made good progress developing a proposal for allocating scarce chicken supplies to processing plants. That is clearly the most contentious issue facing the chicken industry, and has been for decades.
The real problem is a shortage of chicken in Ontario, and that's the case because the national agency, which has one director from each province, simply will not give Ontario enough to meet demand. That has made growth in Ontario difficult, to say the least, and has stymied development of new products, new businesses and new ideas.
Henry Zantingh, vice-chairman of the chicken board, testified to that very fact - that the underlying problem to all of this is a shortage of chicken in Ontario. The commission didn't say a word about that in its decision.
It simply bought the argument that things are going along just great at the new Chicken Industry Advisory Committee.
Maybe. And maybe not. So far it hasn't produced anything.
The most recent allocation meeting at the national agency resulted in even less chicken, and less market share, for Ontario. That's progress?
Why, you might ask, would Ontario processors not seek a larger market share out of the national allocation system? It's quite possible that the biggest companies see more benefits from maintaining market shares for other provinces where they also have processing plants. That would enhance their competitive position in Ontario by starving their rivals of chicken needed to serve increasing, or niche-market-demand.
Secondly, there's less effort and expense involved in marketing when the market is short of chicken. The Ontario market is so short that the members of the OIPP don't need sales staff; often they are turning down orders and turning away new clients. Imagine what this kind of market does for the big companies.
The main chicken-industry policy development has been agreement in priinciple between the Ontario and Quebec chicken boards to restrict inter-provincial movement of live chicken. That frankly scares the members of the OIPP because they fear the big processors will use this deal to reduce their supplies. They have good reason for fear because that's exactly how the AOCP dealt with them in the past.
This is clearly the biggest issue the CIAC has to tackle - how to implement Ontario's part of this bargain.
Yet Kevin Thompson, its chief of staff in a one-man shop, has left for a job with Sargent Farms. So who has the AOCP got to carry on? And how can the AOCP function without an executive director who knows the industry and its history and has the vision and the diplomatic skills to move the industry forward?
The commission didn't say anything about that.
It all adds up to a collosal blunder.
The commission needs the OIPP at the table, especially to implement an allocation plan if and when the Ontario-Quebec agreement in principle is implemented. And if the OIPP is not at the table, it's almost certain that any Ontario-Quebec agreement will unravel.
Of course, there's the tiny issue of restraint of interprovincial trade which flies in the face of recent pledges to eliminate inter-provincial trade barriers.
