Alberta NDP Again Demands Cargill Plant to Shut Down

The death of a second worker at the Cargill beef plant in High River is once again prompting demands from the Alberta NDP to have the plant shut down.

 

The plant in High River re-opened just over a week ago, after being closed for two weeks.  The NDP wants the plant shut down to determine whether the company is meeting legal obligations to involve workers in safety concerns. The NDP's labour critic Christina Gray spoke with reporters on Monday.  "As we have said before, we believe Jason Kenney (Premier), Jason Copping Provincial Labour Minister), and Devin Dreeshen (Provincial Ag Minister) have failed workers at these plants. They are responsible for the outbreak that has put so many lives at risk.  It was April 13, when Cargill workers first asked for a temporary closure, when there were just 38 confirmed cases.  By the time Cargill idles the plant on April 20, two days after Devin Dreeshen assured workers the plant was fully safe, there were 484 confirmed cases and rising."  

 

Gray goes on to say, "the outbreak had spread through the community, impacting families and long term care homes.  Still, Cargill chose to reopen the plant two weeks later on May 4, after zero discussions with their workers. This is not a safe work environment.  We believe the government is responsible and the employer is responsible.  There must be a public inquiry after the emergency has ended."

 

Although the plant is open, it has reduced its shifts to one per day.  The JBS Canada plant, which is also dealing with an outbreak, has done the same with the reduction of shifts but has remained open throughout.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.