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2009 Jun 15 (Mon)

Marketing of Agricultural Products

Kevin Taft questions Premier Stelmach about Bill 43 and the repercussions it will have on smaller players in the industry. He also encourages Premier Stelmach to reveal all donations that backed his leadership campaign.

 

Alberta Hansard, May 11, 2009

Dr. Taft: Thanks, Mr. Speaker. Bill 43 is dissolving this Premier’s credibility in the red meat sector. It’s widely perceived as a favour from the Premier to the secret donors who backed his leadership campaign. To the Premier: will the Premier admit that Bill 43 will hurt the smaller players in the beef industry and, in fact, is a serious blow to the pork, lamb, and potato producers while it’s a huge benefit to the giant feedlots that backed his leadership campaign?

Mr. Stelmach: Mr. Speaker, this line of questioning occurred before. It’s funny; he calls it secret, yet everybody seems to know – he knows at least – who contributed to everybody’s campaign. I suppose the next time there’s a question that comes up on royalties, it will be significant to mention that that party received considerably more from one major oil company than the whole Progressive Conservative Party. So, you know, if you want to play games, we can play games.

In terms of the red meat industry, we’ve come to a crucial point, and that is: how do we gain access to markets around the world excluding the United States? I just came back from Switzerland. For the first time we had Alberta beef served in Switzerland. Switzerland is not part of the European Union, but through Switzerland hopefully we can reach out and access markets in the major centres because we cannot depend on one market, and that is the United States. They’ve shut us out a number of times, and we can’t do that anymore for the sake of all our producers.

The Speaker: The hon. member.

Dr. Taft: Thanks, Mr. Speaker. I’m sure the people watching know the Premier didn’t answer my question at all. The same people and companies who were widely reported to have backed the Premier’s leadership bid with important but undisclosed resources also turn up on the board of ATB, on various PC donor lists, and in the last couple of years have received millions of dollars in government grants. Some of these are also expected to benefit handsomely from Bill 43. Will the Premier follow best practice – that’s all we’re asking here – clear the air on Bill 43, and finally disclose the list of secret donors to his leadership campaign? Here’s the opportunity.

Mr. Stelmach: Mr. Speaker, I can go back and pull the files in terms of who contributed to the campaign and who didn’t. This has got nothing to do with who contributed either to my campaign or to individual campaigns of any member of this House. I am sure that there are some people on the other side of the House that received donations from other beef producers. However, set that aside and concentrate on how we are going to gain access in other markets around the world. That is the critical issue. This bill is referring to the check-off that producers pay, whether it be pork, potatoes, also beef. We’re meeting with the industry. We’re giving them a year to adjust. The bill is fair, it’s going through the House, and this is looking to the future of this industry.

The Speaker: The hon. member.

Dr. Taft: Thanks, Mr. Speaker. I can assure the Premier that all the members on this side of the Assembly have fully disclosed all donations. I wish the Premier would do the same.

My question to him is: out of respect to the large majority of beef, pork, lamb, and potato producers in this province, who I’m sure his office is hearing from, will the Premier put Bill 43 on hold?

Mr. Stelmach: Mr. Speaker, as the Premier of the province and also as one that is responsible for the welfare, the general direction that the meat industry has to take in this province of Alberta, I stand committed to the bill. We’ve got to move forward, take the politics out of it, and start positioning this province as open to markets around the world.

This is something I learnt coming back from Switzerland. We have the best traceability in Canada and, indeed, in North America, in fact to rival many other countries, yet we cannot gain access to the European Union because other countries are beating us that don’t even have anywhere near the traceability. Now we have ensure that we do whatever we can to position ourselves through our world trade ambassadors to make sure that our needs are heard, that we work

with all the industry, the red-meat industry, to build those markets. We can’t depend on the Americans because they already showed us how they’re dealing with us under COOL.

 

 

 

Date: Mon Jun 15 14:49:31 MDT 2009 changed by: Rebecca IP: 199.213.91.1