XL story

[grassfarmer]

Heard an interesting story last night from a source I
trust regarding what really happened at XL. Although
lots of questions are being asked of CFIA and what
role they played in the plant being offline for so long
the Nilsson part of the story seems to have slowly
slipped from the radar screen. According to my
source what really happened was after it had been
offline XL went straight to the federal Government
and demanded $40 million or they were going to
close it down permanently. CFIA was trying to get the
plant up and running, Nilssons were trying to
blackmail the Government. When this ploy failed they
laid off the 2000 workers to ratchet up the
pressure. Not sure the dollar amount but the report is
the Feds caved to their demands and paid them out,
paving way for the JBS takeover.

[rkaiser]

Good story GF, however I will call bullshit on this one.

[grassfarmer]

That's up to you - I know my source and his
involvement

[per]

This would be why we need an independent investigation. No rumors, no bs, just the facts.

[grassfarmer]

Who do you think should conduct the inquiry per? I
don't have a lot of confidence in either our provincial
or federal Governments (look how well the queue
jumping inquiry is going in AB, lol) Also how likely
would it be that the type of inquiry you are calling for
would have the scope to address issues like the $40
million phone call? Pretty sure Harper and Ritz
wouldn't want that part included. More likely it would
be limited to what happened in the plant, the
breakdowns in procedures, what CFIA did what XL
did. I agree with you that there maybe should be an
inquiry but who will order it, who will conduct it and
how much could we trust the outcome?

[ASRG]

No matter what crooked stuff went on behind the scenes, the important thing here is the complete failure by the CFIA and Ritz to manage the situation? They dropped the ball on the Maple Leaf listeria thing.....and they learned absolutely nothing....which was very apparent with the XL gong show!
How do we assure our customers that we have a good system when these clowns keep dropping the ball? No one went down the road. No one got chewed out.

Why is Ritz still the minister?

[per]

Tough to know GF. Maybe a Charlie Gracie type who is respected by industry and government alike. The list is short for sure and the PM is about the only one who could name him or her as Ritz would be someone who needs to be investigated.

[smcgrath76]

per - that is a good suggestion. I
don't know too many who could run that
type of inquiry, especially when that
kind of $ are involved and still be
impartial, yet tough enough to determine
the truth.
I doubt that Ritz will call an inquiry
and I am pretty sure he is still the
minister because he takes orders well
and bulls his way to wherever he is told
to go. He personally takes a lot of
heat off the government as a whole,
while delivering their "principle based"
(dogma) direction.

[forage]

rkaiser There was a media report that xl received a 47 million loan from farm credit 2 days before the plant went down. The money was used to pay off a loan from Metropol. Life insurance company that carried a 25% interest rate.

[rkaiser]

A loan maybe, but an underhanded gift of 40 million.
That is what i call .bs on.

[forage]

rk definitely a loan. But how do Farm Credit get their money back after XL declares themselves bankrupt.

[grassfarmer]

Which part do you not believe Randy? .... that they
would ask for it? or that they would get it?

[rkaiser]

Sorry GF. Your first post sounded like they were given 40 million.

Asking for a loan and actually getting it? - Very Likely. Using leverage - very very likely. Conning the government and then selling the plant right after they got the loan... Even more likely. Paying it back? LMAO. Get in line. Or maybe they put themselves in first place and the rest of the payees will simply get less or nothing.

Yes there needs to be an inquiry. But who will do it?

Another good story that fits along with this one was when the NB boys got the 1.6 million to upgrade grind facilities and then shut the plant down in Calgary right after. One government arm not knowing what the other is doing. Do you think that the government boys who saw the potential for more jobs and more business as soon as they gave the 1.6 million to NB for the upgrade scratched their little heads when the plant in Calgary shut down?

There is nothing that NB would not do to make a buck or con a few out of the government. All in good faith...LMAO

This time though, I think they are hooped. They are going to have to do some fancy stepping to keep the government, the debtors and the lawsuit lawyers from taking everything they have. That "Karma" is a funny and perfect thing.

[forage]

The question to be asked is just how much money in Alberta government loan guarntees,federal govern. loans and grants did the XL brothers get then transfers out to buy their ranch under another company name. I believe they still owe a wack of money to Tyson Foods for the original purchase. I do not think JB is interested in the Brooks plant only the two updated plants in the U.S. Just my opinion.

[grassfarmer]

Never mind Tyson Foods they never finished paying
the SK Government for the MooseJaw plant either. I
don't think you are correct on the US plants - the
Nampa plant is 85 years old and has been closed
since June 2011. I'm sure JBS could have bought that
for small change if they wanted to. Their plant in
Grand Island Nebraska is running well below capacity
so why would they need another, smaller one in
Omaha Nebraska?
I think Lakeside is the one they want - it gives them
opportunities to do different things rather than more
plant capacity in a country they already operate in.
Call me crazy but I think these guys might actually
have a plan to market branded Canadian beef as a
differentiated product in other areas of the world
rather than sliding in the back door of the USA.