The Militant(logo) 
    Vol.62/No.37           October 19, 1998 
 
 
Pork Farmers In Canada Protest Gov't Cuts  

BY ANNETTE KOURI AND MARIE-CLAIRE DAVID
DRUMMONDVILLE, Quebec - After 11 days of stopping traffic on Highway 20, one of the main commercial routes in Quebec, pork producers were forced to take down their blockades by the Quebec Provincial Police September 22. The hog farmers began their protest September 11 to draw attention to the crisis they face and demand that the Quebec government respect its commitment to the Revenue Security Law, which provides some measure of economic stability for farmers.

Jean-Guy Vincent, president of the pork producers association in the Quebec Center region, declared at a press conference on the site that "40 percent of producers can't meet their payments." Because of the collapse of the demand from Asia and increased pork production worldwide, pork prices have dropped from an average of Can$200 (Can$1 = US$0.65) a head to $110 in one year. Raising each pig costs $140 a head. With weekly losses reaching $2,000 to $3,000, many pork farmers don't think they can hold out until Christmas.

These Militant correspondents visited the blockade September 19. Producers brought their hogs, tractors, hay, and troughs and installed a small pig farm on one side of the highway. Many people driving by showed solidarity by honking their horns.

"We budget in consideration of the law," said hog farmer Lise Trépanier, "but we don't receive what the government owes us; therefore we cannot meet our costs and our suppliers insist more and more on being paid on delivery."

Since 1975 the Revenue Security Law provides for a "Stabilization Insurance Program" in Quebec, where producers contribute according to the number of hogs sold and their profit margin. When producers are forced to sell at a loss, like now, they are supposed to receive a subsidy from the program. Since 1992 the government has been cutting back on those payments, claiming the need to fight the deficit.

According to the Quebec Federation of Pork Producers, the Revenue Security Program for agriculture has been cut by close to $100 million over the last six years, and the last cut of $10 per head in June 1997 was just too much. "For a business that has 5,000 pigs, this represents $50,000 [in lost revenue]," summed up Vincent from the federation.

"We want the government to respect its promises. They say there is no more money but we don't know where the money went," said Louis Roy L'Avenir, a pork farmer in the Quebec Center region.

The government also argues that producers do make profits and point to some of the huge hog farms. But the majority of the pork farms in Quebec are family owned.

Andre Forcier, a pig farmer who helped to organize the action, explained, "A few years ago there was an emphasis on the family farm. There was a certain stability. The government took away the ceiling and that was the beginning of the mega pig farms." Forcier further explained how this was the basis for the government's argument that producers did not really need any subsidy. "But the big money goes to the big producer.... The government auditor raised the fact that a pork producer recently received $5 million from the Stabilization Insurance Program, but it's tied to the volume."

There are 3,000 pork producers in Quebec and the industry provides nearly 30,000 jobs. Since the end of the blockade, the Quebec government has begun negotiating with the pork producers.

Annette Kouri is a member of the United Steelworkers of America. Josée Séguin contributed to this article.

 
 
 
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