LEARNING FROM THE PAST
FARMERS REDUCE FOOTPRINT
Rossburn couple promotes regional traditions » PAGE 34
Report shows environmental impact shrinking » PAGE 29
DECEMBER 15, 2011
SERVING MANITOBA FARMERS SINCE 1925 | VOL. 69, NO. 50
CWB: RULING
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MANITOBACOOPERATOR.CA
Meat plant progress
Federal plans for CWB in legal limbo
Proponents say construction could start in March
A defiant agriculture minister vows to press on By Allan Dawson
Keystone Processors changes its name but not its aim, while looking to confirm plant still kosher with producers
CO-OPERATOR STAFF
By Shannon Vanraes
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CO-OPERATOR STAFF
parliamentar y expert says federal plans to change the Canadian Wheat Board are likely on hold until the courts have had their final say on last week’s ruling in favour of opponents. “The federal government can get the legislation through Parliament, but they won’t be able to implement it as long as it’s before the courts or the courts have agreed with the opponents,” said Ned Franks, who specializes in parliamentary procedure at Queens University. Federal Court Justice Douglas Campbell ruled Dec. 7 that Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz broke the Canadian Wheat Board Act by introducing into Parliament Bill C-18, the Marketing Freedom Act for Grain Farmers, which proposes firing the board’s farmer-elected directors and creating an open market as of Aug. 1, 2012. In a written decision Justice Campbell said under Section 47.1 Ritz had a statutory duty to first consult with the wheat board’s board of directors and get farmers’ approval for the change
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new Winnipeg slaughter plant will go ahead despite the loss of $10 million in federal funding and an effort by Manitoba Beef Producers to end the voluntary $2 checkoff funding the project, according to its chief executive. “We are ready for shovels in the ground when we finish our financing, and when Mother Nature cooperates,” said Doug Cooper, president and CEO of ProNatur, formerly called Keystone Processors. “We’re expecting those two things to collide about the second week of March.” Cooper suggested that opposition to the project that surfaced at the Manitoba Beef Producers annual meeting didn’t reflect the views of a majority of the province’s cattle producers.
“They have every right to put in a resolution to lobby to do away with the checkoff and they did by a vote of 24 to 21,” said Cooper. “Now I don’t know if there are more than 50 cattle producers in Manitoba, but I’m betting there are.” But attendees at the Manitoba Forage Council’s recent annual Grazing School didn’t seem ready to rally around the project. “We’re not here to be antagonists,” Cooper told the unresponsive crowd, adding it’s time for producers to decide if they want the plant to go ahead. “This plant should be built if Manitoba producers want it, and the best way for them to say they want it is to continue the voluntary checkoff,” Cooper said. “And really it goes a step beyond that. Because this checkoff is voluntary, See MEAT PLANT on page 6 »
Butch Shadbolt (l) of ProNatur, and company CEO Doug Cooper, watch the ProNatur booth go up during the Manitoba Forage Council’s annual Grazing School. PHOTO: SHANNON VANRAES
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COUNT US IN · DAIRY FARMERS SUPPORT MCEC PLAN » PAGE 3