Glenn Black, president of Small Flockers of Canada,
challenged the three lawyers forming a panel hearing his appeal against the
Chicken Farmers of Ontario marketing board to be brave and consider his
broad-ranging complaints about the supply-management system.
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| Glenn Black |
Black said the federal legislation, passed 43 years ago, was
flawed, that the law and regulations Ontario subsequently enacted added
complexity and “didn’t repair or avoid the latent flaws.”
As a result, what he calls the Chicken Mafia now controls
the chicken industry in ways that are not fair for consumers, for small-flock
chicken farmers and, in the long term, in the best interests of quota-holding
chicken farmers.
He challenged the tribunal to stick its neck out to take his
appeal that details these any many other criticisms he has leveled about the
chicken industry.
He said he has no doubt that if the tribunal does that, its
decision will begin a round of court appeals, but argued that will be the beginning
of a major overhaul of chicken supply management, getting it “back on course”
to benefit the industry and the public.
Lawyer Geoff Spurr, lawyer for the Chicken Farmers of
Ontario marketing board, spent more than two hours detailing, point by point,
why the tribunal ought to toss out the appeal before it even gets to a public
hearing.
Spurr argued that most of the issues Black has raised are
outside of the jurisdiction of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food
Appeal Tribunal.
Some are matters for the Ontario Farm Products Marketing
Commission, some for the Chicken Farmers of Canada national agency and others
for the provincial legislature or the federal Parliament, Spurr said.
He argued that the damages Black is seeking ought to be
presented as a class-action lawsuit. They are heard in the Superior Court of
Ontario.
Black countered that the tribunal has the right to consider
this appeal as part of its responsibilities under the federal charter of Rights
and Freedoms.
One of the points he raised is that 75 per cent of the
pre-school children of Nunavut go without any food some days and 2.9
million Canadians are in a state of food insecurity.
He argued that Canadian governments have a responsibility to
ensure people can access a nutritional diet of their choice and that the
management of the chicken industry has put prices beyond the reach of too many
people.
He said allowing small-flock owners the right to increase
annual production from the current limit of 300 birds to 2,000 a year would result in
more affordable and locally-grown chicken for Canadians and these small-flock
producers could be limited to no more than 10 per cent of the market.
Under the current supply-management system, approximately 1,400
quota holders have 99.6 per cent market share in Ontario, he said.
Spurr said the nub of the appeal ought to be the 300-bird
exemption from having to own quota to produce chicken and said the tribunal ought to reject even that on the basis that more than a year has elapsed since the policy was adopted.
Michelle Ireland, representing the Ontario Farm Products
Marketing Commission, also said the appeal ought to be limited to the 300 vs.
2,000-bird exemption, but she added Black’s appeal to enable small flock owners
a say in chicken-board policy.
Spurr pointed to definitions in legislation and regulations
to argue that only quota holders have voting and other marketing-board rights.
He said that limit was set in 2007 in consultation with the hatcheries and brokers who marketed chicks to small-flock owners.
John O'Kane, chairman of the tribunal panel, said the tribunal will do its best to have a written decision within 30 days.
