Big Meat-Packers in Contempt Over BSE Finances

[rsomer]

I doubt government really wants to follow this through. Government are not uninvolved, objective judges of the meat packing industry. Governments and, to a large extent the Alberta government, have created the problems we are dealing with and they are as much to blame as the packers.

In the late 1980s the Alberta government provided Cargill with $4 million to assist with the construction of a waste water plant at its High River facility. At the same time the Alberta Government provided Lakeside with $16 million in grants and loans to become the largest beef slaughtering plant in Canada. A few years later Lakeside was purchased by IBP.

The medium sized packing plants like Canada Packers could not compete. Not only because they were smaller and did not enjoy the economies of scale but without the same level of direct government support they were doomed. It should have come as no surprise that Lakeside and Cargill expanded, while competing plants in Calgary, Red Deer and Lethbridge closed.

Governments, both at the Federal and Provincial levels, would have known that the foreign owned packers in this country would claw back the over $1Billion in BSE support. If they are acting surprised and shocked now it is only for the cameras.

The Canadian meat packers recognized the contribution of the Alberta Government when they invited Ralph Klein to be the guest speaker at their recent Annual General Meeting. Klein thanked Canadian Meat Council and the big packers for their continued fine leadership and hard work on behalf of all meat industries, particularly during the past eight months in the wake of the B.S.E. crisis.

On the one hand, the politicians are making noise for the media expressing shock and outrage at the way the Canadian meat packing industry has manipulated the market during the BSE crisis while on the other hand pursing policies and designing programs that guarantee that the government money flows in the pockets of the packing industry. Until such time as Canada’s livestock producers themselves can take the packing industry to court and make the big packers accountable for the billions they have pirated from producers pockets, nothing should be expected to happen. Certainly nothing should be expected to come from government.

[kato]

Mr. Klein and his American buddies also totally decimated the Manitoba packers.

Winnipeg used to be the main location for meat packing on the Prairies.

Location location location... isn't that what is supposed to be important? On the main rail line, and highway, centrally located, closest to the Eastern market. We had big packing plants and a good sized well trained stable workforce.

Mr. Klein's corporate welfare scheme made all that irrelevant. Manitoba couldn't even come close to the incentives he offered the Americans. They didn't even try.

When governments decide to offer incentives to draw big businesses in, they end up with businesses that aren't feasable in the long run without more money from that same government. The big corporations demand tax breaks and lots of freebies to get them there, and then when there are a lot of workers depending on the jobs and municipalities depending on the taxes, they demand more money. They say, "We are going to pull out if we don't get our costs down, and quite frankly we don't care what happens to those we leave behind." So the government tosses some more cash at them.

Some corporations have this down to an art. They have made it a regular part of their business plans.

I for one, am getting very tired of the whole thing.

[cowman]

I think you have got it very right rsomer! When CP Red Deer tried to get some money from the province to expand and compete with the new Cargill plant they were turned down flat. At the time they wanted to diversify more into a cow plant because they knew they couldn't go head to head with Cargill. Of course the Alberta government was also in bed with Lakeside, who were expanding their cow line, so there was no way they wanted any compensation. I believe at the time a Japanese firm basically owned Lakeside and there were rumors Peter Lougheed had money invested.
The rest is history! Meat packing is about one of the sleaziest businesses in the world...not very far removed from the Mafia and the drug trade! All you need to do is check out all the lawsuits and fines Cargill/IBP have had over the years down in the States...these are not nice people at all? Then check out Tyson and find out where his money came from?

[cowman]

Oh and kato, you are also very right! The Alberta government bought the feedlot industry with the Crow offset program and by running out the old Canadian plants. The plants in Winnepeg were outdated and the feeding industry was gone, but you can lay the blame squarely on the shoulders of Mr. Lougheed and Mr. Getty...those two paragons of "free enterprize"!
...and then we have Ralph?

[kato]

Just talked to a neighbour who called our local cattle buyer today. He was told that since yesterday, he can't even get a bid price from the plants in Alberta.

They don't want any cattle. At all. At least from Manitoba anyway.

Something smells.