Round Table wth RItz

[perfecho]

Hey Mr. Pallet, Kato, Randy,...etc.
Been invited to an intimate round table discussion with our MP and Mr. Ritz. Would like to take the opportunity to ask about the class action law suit and why it is not being dealt with.
Would like input to for the top three points that this should be settled due to Gov negligence....and any advice as to how to ask without sounding like a whining farmer ;-)
Also would like to address the lack of competition...any suggestions.
Thanks, Larry

[kato]

Gonna give this some thought. I'll be back.

[rkaiser]

Why not have an independent mediator?

[ASRG]

You might ask him about a food inspection agency that obviously needs an overhaul on how they handle food poisoning cases (listeria and ecoli).

[per]

On the CFIA, don't let him suggest the centers of excellence initiative as the fix to what ASRG refers. They are probably a good idea but don't address the systemic issues within a bureaucracy out of control. Also letting the CFIA do the investigation into the XL affair doesn't cut it.

[perfecho]

At first I declined the invitation, thought I would get too ticked and show my "other" side..;-0
However, I am certainly getting weary of other peoples mistakes costing the beef industry (and me) dearly. Personally, we just got going before BSE, with a purebred herd, and it cost us dearly. After the XL catastrophe, the confidence level of many to expand, jump back in is not there. And this is due to others, not the producers. Even though the markets are good after banging our head against a wall for so long, they are not great return compared to cost escalation of inputs. For such a valuable component of life ..food...it certainly is not highly regarded, I believe.
Please keep the thoughts coming. I apprecaite the insight of others. Wish I could bring you all along, it certainly would be interesting to sit back and watch.

[grassfarmer]

I wouldn't lose too much sleep over what to say as
Ritz doesn't appear to be blessed with even the
most basic modicum of intelligence. You could ask
him how the ostrich business is doing and suggest
that he tries the cold cuts. You should probably
enquire after his friend Brian Nilsson's well being
too - have heard much about him recently.

[kato]

This is what I would ask him. (Like I'd ever be allowed within a mile. ha ha)

"On May 19, 2003, the cattle and beef segment of agriculture was one of the largest contributors to Canada's then healthy export surplus, as well as being a major economic force in the Canadian economy. Ten years later, it has been reduced to a fraction of what it was, and is in real danger of being a sideline industry. The cow herd has been liquidating steadily and consistently year over year, with no end in sight. The economic losses have been extraordinary. The cow calf producers were the first to fall, and then the domino effect hit the feedlots, packers, truckers, vets, farm suppliers, and other industries that once thrived on the business the cattle brought.

An entire generation has been lost to the cattle industry. Many remaining producers are getting older, and will not be replaced when they leave.

The question is "Why is this happening?"

The answer is "Lack of confidence in the future."

The cattle industry in this country has been let down by it's regulators in so many ways it's hard to count them. It started with a lack of action on the government's part with the very first cow diagnosed with BSE back in the 90's. This negligence led to the BSE crisis as we know it. And was the start of the slippery slope to oblivion. It led to rules and regulations that were meant to protect us, but which only caused more bureaucracy and red tape that made business more difficult without giving any benefit to those who were supposed to be helped by it.

There is no sense of confidence that we won't be let down again. None of these troubles were the fault of Canadian cattle producers. We have done our part, and the disasters delivered on us were not of our doing.

My questions are...

1. Will the government appoint the mediator to settle our class action suit, as we've been asking for years now? This will address the problem that started it all.

2. Will the government cancel the sale of the PFRA pastures?

3. Will the government fund the CFIA well enough that it can do a proper job of monitoring the beef processors, and concentrate on that part of the food system, rather than chasing trucks around the country looking for lost eartags?

If they did these three things, maybe we'd see a reason to stay in business in the future.

[kato]

... as she is escorted from the room.

[GaryE]

Good points Kato except that the job that CFIA is supposed to do is totally unrelated to its funding. We need a total overhaul starting with accountability and vision statement for CFIA. The days of standing on guard on assembly lines are over. We do need the centers of excellence but do not need pages of regulations. The CFIA needs to become more proactive in preventing crisis and less active in media hysteria. CFIA is now taking credit for identifying the potential problems at XL prior to the discovery of E.coli but certainly did not stop the problem form occurring. We need to keep the call in place for an independent review of the agency.

[SADIE]

Thankyou Kato on the comment regarding the PFRA pastures. I believe you should have got an email today that went out to all the Saskatchewan Members of Parliament and All the Provincial MLAs. The groundswell of support and organization of the Patrons of the PFRA pastures has swept the province of Saskatchewan. The patrons realize we need a collective "one voice" on issues regarding our important part of our businesses. The need for the "little guy" to have access to grazine with PFRA pasture managers in place to deflect those controversial issues that appear to arise between issues of one pasture patron and another.

Jan 23 Sutherland Hall 1112 Central Avenue Saskatoon Sask. Registration 8:30-9:30 Full day meeting. Media have been invited.

[smcgrath76]

"... as she is escorted from the room." I think your previous assessment
about not letting you within a mile of the minister is probably closer (LOL).
I would be really curious to know - what is your long term vision for the
beef industry in Canada? What type of cow numbers/processors are you
thinking? What are your plans to grow export markets? How do you plan to
ensure food safety and animal/human health in a transparent, tough, low cost
way that is internationally accepted? What are your efforts to grow a
competitive advantage going to look like?
What exists in your plans to maintain profitability of moderate sized cattle
operations (or cattle operations at all)?
I would listen very closely for dogma, as I believe that is what will direct
the government over the next several years, and I suspect that knowing that
dogma more clearly will be a good form of risk management, as I can't see
them taking or listening to a lot of advice.
I would also be curious to know about their new idea of regional information
centres. I can't see this being more valuable than current (or non existent)
provincial operations.

[kato]

Are you asking me? If so, this is my vision. If not, here it is anyway. ;-)

Since virtually every disaster that's happened to the beef/cattle industry in the past years has been the result of mismanagement in the regulatory system, my vision is to have said system be overhauled, and get a new mission statement that puts the emphasis on developing a business environment where people can invest in long term projects without having to worry about them coming crashing down due to some bureaucratic error or "dogma".

We need to be able to go forward with the confidence that government policy is being developed that protects us from the kind of fiascos we've had to deal with in the past.

There is no trust in the competence of government any more. We all live with the ups and downs of markets, weather, and such, and accept them as part of the risk of doing business.

How can we be expected to make life long investments in a business, when at any moment somebody in an office in Ottawa decides that we no longer need a PFRA, or that the protection of their political agenda is more important than the good of the country. Or that there are too many cattle farms, and small farms, and they have to go to make way for some that fit the government "vision" for a corporate based food production system.

I just want to go ahead with my business without having to worry about my own government being my own worst enemy. I'm sure those trying to start up new ventures in processing want the same thing.

If some faith in the future was re-established, the rest would all fall into place.

[grassfarmer]

I disagree kato, I think faith in the future has to
come from within one's self it can't be created by
Government. Just as you are prepared to "live with
the ups and downs of markets, weather, and such,
and accept them as part of the risk of doing
business" so you should be prepared to deal at a
business level with actions or reactions caused by
change of Government policy or their rules. That has
always been a part of business risk, not just in
agriculture either. Blaming Government is a
convenient way to shift blame but agriculture always
has, and always will be a dynamic industry full of
change to which the survivors will adapt and those
that don't get out.
Don't get me wrong I'm not a big supporter of the
Government and we still should be prepared to
lobby them on the things we disagree on but at the
start of each day we each get the chance to shape
our own destiny one day at a time and that's one
think I love about being an independent operator
involved in agriculture.

[ASRG]

Or we could just say:
You screwed up the cattle industry! Wheres my f***ing money!