The Manitoba Cattle Producers Association (MCPA) has recently attended a number of high level meetings with senior members of both Federal and Provincial Governments to discuss a variety of cattle producer issues in Manitoba.
On January 19, MCPA Executives met with a quorum of Manitoba Conservative Members of Parliament that included Vic Toews, President of the Treasury Board, James Bezan, MP for Selkirk/Interlake, Joy Smith, MP for Kildonan-St. Paul, Candice Hoeppner, MP for Portage-Lisgar, and Shelly Glover, MP for Saint Boniface.
At the meeting, MCPA Executives praised the Federal Government who took the initiative to create a Market Access Secretariat for Livestock and lauded the recent trade deal Minister Ritz confirmed with Hong Kong and India. Other topics of discussion included COOL regulations, the shortcomings of the Business Risk Management programs under the Growing Forward Plan that would advocate for changes to the AgriRecovery Program and would apply to Manitoban farmers who suffered through the flooding conditions last summer as well as disaster related tax deferrals for those same individuals, the importance of environmental farm planning, and finally verified the beef production program and the MCPA’s momentum gaining Ecological Goods and Services proposal.
“They were very receptive and understood our concerns,” said MCPA President Joe Bouchard. “We’re looking forward to working with all levels of government to ensure the long term success of our industry. There are many bridges to cross but I think we all share a desire to see a strong and economically healthy cattle industry in this country.”
