CPC releases 2015 election priorities

The Canadian Pork Council (CPC) wants the leaders of Canada's political parties and the candidates running for election to take a stand for the future of Canadian hog production.
The CPC released its 2015 Canadian Pork Industry Platform for the 2015 Federal Election, a document outlining major industry concerns and ways in which the future government can work with the hog industry. Topping the CPC's list of priorities is a call for modernization of risk management programs.
The industry has survived several financially challenging years, during which time infrastructure updates were put on hold. Now that the financial footing of the industry has improved, producers face significant costs to catch up with construction and repairs.
“Canada's hog producers are firmly focused on the future and building conditions for success. The CPC calls on the federal political candidates to develop a range of risk management tools and strategies to help producers deal with instability in the market place, including currency fluctuations, and to modernize the Canadian Agricultural Loans Act to accurately reflect Canadian agriculture's growing farm sizes, increased farm costs, more complex farming structures and revenue and profit volatility,” says Rick Bergmann, CPC chairman.
Other issues addressed in the Canadian Pork industry platform for the 2015 federal election include market access, with calls for the federal government to continue Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations and finally resolving the country of origin labelling (COOL) dispute with the United States, including implementing retaliatory tariffs if necessary.