June 2020 Local Abattoir Capacity Letter

June 29, 2020

Bob Bailey
MPP for Sarnia-Lambton
102-805 Christina Street, North
Point Edward, Ontario N7V 1X6

Monte McNaughton
MPP of Lambton-Kent-Middlesex
81 Front Street, West
Strathroy, Ontario N7G 1X6

RE:Reducing the Burden on Local Abattoirs

A fellow OFA county partner held a roundtable forum last month and invited several local commodity representatives. At the roundtable, the groups expressed frustration with Canada’s livestock processing system, much similar frustrations we are experiencing right here in Sarnia-Lambton The reliance on three federally inspected meat processing plants that account for 85% of our beef production in Canada has made our local agricultural sector here in Sarnia-Lambton vulnerable. The challenges and bottlenecks created by reduced capacity at these three plants through the current pandemic have brought this issue into sharp focus. As a result, a negative ripple effect threatens our food security in Ontario.

We would like to ask you to work with the relevant commodity groups and agricultural industry partners to investigate ways to reduce regulatory burden on local, provincially inspected abattoirs, and to look for possible ways to incentivize these businesses so that they can start back up again in a manner that can be beneficial to both our local food security and Agricultural economy in Ontario.

The Canadian slaughter and meat processing system requires both federal and provincial infrastructure capacity improvements. This has been clearly demonstrated in 2020. When the Federal plants shut down or operate at reduced capacity it creates a backlog in food production that can have devastating consequences for local farm businesses, the Ag economy itself and the food security picture in our province. Conversely, the facilitation and reintroduction of more local, Provincially Inspected meat processing capacity would give our local producers safe, dependable access to local value-added markets, which would strengthen the connection from farm to plate in Sarnia-Lambton This would revitalize the local Agricultural economy, the key financial driver of our rural areas, as well as addressing the food supply insecurity of our citizens.

We trust that you are already aware of these issues and we thank you for the steps the Government is already taking to assist the Agricultural Sector in Ontario, and we urge you to please feel free to be in contact with our organization if there is anything that we can do to help advance the call for Provincially Licensed local Abattoirs.

 

Respectfully yours,

The Lambton Federation of Agriculture