The Régis
that regulates marketing boards in Quebec has not yet issued its decision on a
controversial deal between Quebec and Ontario chicken marketing boards to stop
inter-provincial trade of live birds.
The Quebec marketing board and processors had until the end
of November to either reach unanimous agreement on the proposal or to return the issue to
the Régis for its decision.
All but a
few small-scale processors in Quebec favour the deal.
The
situation is similar in Ontario where the marketing board and the Association
of Ontario Chicken Processors are poised to introduce regulations designed to
end inter-provincial trade and assign Ontario-grown chickens to Ontario
processors.
There is an
association representing smaller-scale Ontario processors which has complained
that its concerns may get trampled by the agreement.
There is
also the question of whether the
agreement can withstand a court challenge on the basis that the provincial
premiers and the prime minister have signed agreements to reduce and
eventually eliminate inter-provincial trade barriers.
