By Bruce Cochrane
The Canadian Pork Council is making it a priority to educate candidates running in the federal election on the key issues facing Canada's pork producers.
On August 2 the Prime Minister dissolved parliament and formally launched the 42 Canadian general election.
Canadian Pork Council chair Rick Bergmann says it's important to ensure that all political parties are made aware of the priority areas that need to be addressed to strengthen the pork industry and build for the future.
Rick Bergmann-Canadian Pork Council:
If we, as producers, don't tell our story and talk about what is needed to build more sustainability not only for this generation but the next generation, nobody will.
Agriculture is such a unique business that very, ver few people know about but everybody is very dependant on agriculture for ensuring that they've got a good breakfast every morning and so on, so it's critically important that we talk and producers talk across this country on the importance of the needs that we have as an industry.
Certainly trade is extremely critical for our industry as a major exporter, so with the talks that have started with the TPP negotiation and so on, the Country of Origin Labeling has had a tremendous negative effect on our industry over the years so that needs to get rectified so we can move on to the future.
Competitiveness is also very critical for our industry as you know and also there's a whole gambit of items underneath our business risk management umbrella that we will be talking to government people about.
Bergmann notes the pork industry is a major economic engine for Canada and that is something that not a lot of people are aware of so we need to be telling our story on that issue.
Source: Farmscape