January 6, 1999 (Merlin)   Pat Hoy, MPP Essex-Kent has asked the Minister of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs to suspend a detrimental user fee on hog pmcessors.

In a letter to the Minister, Hoy asked the Minister to suspend a user fee which is charged to small and medium sized slaughter facilities who are willing to increase production to alleviate some of the backlog in the system.

"Many of these plants are experiencing ever-shrinking profit margins. If they try to increase their capacity, the plants face a $40 per hour user fee for provincial inspectors to oversee this additional capacity. Obviously, this creates a disincentive to process additional pigs."

Hoy noted that the suspension of these user fees would not solve the problem itselt but would go a long way toward fostering a cooperative spirit. "Everyone is working to alleviate this oversupply. The government should be willing to do their part and ease up on its collection of detrimental user fees."

back to Press Releases Index