Glenn Black, a small-flock owner on Manitoulin Island, is
asking the Chicken Farmers of Ontario marketing board to review its small-flock
policies and his request that the maximum for non-quota holders be increased
from 300 to 2,000 birds.
Progressive Farmers made the same request and was turned
down by the board last year. President Sean McGivern says he plans to appeal to
the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food Appeal Tribunal.
Black is also requesting that his proposals, if the chicken
board denies his request, be referred to the tribunal.
Black said the board’s response that it will consider his
proposals when the small-flock program comes up for routine board review is not
acceptable because that could be years away.
He said there is an urgent need to change the board’s
policies so the Ontario public, especially in remote areas such as Northern
Ontario, can gain access to locally-grown chicken.
Black is also proposing that OMAF relax its regulations so
those with flocks of 300 birds or fewer can do their own on-farm processing.
Those raising more than 300 birds could, he said, continue to take them to a
government-licensed and inspected plant for processing.
Black wants chicken rules eased
Black has also written to Ontario
Premier and Agriculture Minister Kathleen Wynne urging her to change rules to
foster local production and processing.
He tells her that small-flock owners ought to be allowed
to process their chickens on their farms and not have to meet the full nine yards
of provincial regulations for meat-packing plants.
He says these on-farm operations could be subjected to
reasonable food safety standards.
Black says if the chicken board allows flocks of more than 300
birds the owners could be required to have their processing done at a government-licensed
and inspected packing plant.
He basically argues that if Wynne really wants to win back support from rural Ontario, she needs to pay attention to their desire to buy locally-produced foods from local farmers, including chicken.
The issue for Wynne boils down to courage to finally curb the abuses of power by the Chicken Farmers of Ontario marketing board.
The small-flock issue pales in comparison with the board's stubborn refusal to supply enough chicken to CAMI International Poultry Inc. to fill the urgent demand for Hong-Kong dressed birds for the huge Asian community in the Greater Toronto area and the Muslim demand for hand-slaughtered Halal-protocol chicken.
Wynne told me she's not prepared to intervene in the CAMI situation because the chicken board is assessing the situation in connection with its new Specialty Markets program.
That, Premier Wynne, is a blatant cop-out that leaves Jimmy Lee unfairly penalized by a defiant marketing-board ban on trade in live chickens between Ontario and Quebec.
You have multiple reasons to intervene immediately, including a breach of inter-provincial trade agreements Ontario has signed, including breach of responsibility to ensure the marketing boards satisfy consumer demand and including a breach of basic fairness in exercising regulatory powers.
You have multiple reasons to intervene immediately, including a breach of inter-provincial trade agreements Ontario has signed, including breach of responsibility to ensure the marketing boards satisfy consumer demand and including a breach of basic fairness in exercising regulatory powers.
