New BC Meat Peocessing

The Federal government is backing out of doing meat inspections at processers operating under provincial licenses. I received an email about the processer we've used for the last few years since the nonsense in 2003 saw our local butcher close the doors. I've done some research, but I'm wondering what really is being proposed.

Give Steve Gunnar a phone call. He's running for NDP mla and is part-owner in N. Okanagan Poultry Processing, the new mobile unit in my area. They do poultry, but I'm guessing he will be able to shed some light for you. He will be aware of what's going on, most likely.

Rosewood, when and if you learn more about this, would you please post it here? I know you didn't get many responses, but this is actually a HUGE issue in the farming community. I am interested to know where this goes.

Rosewood, when and if you learn more about this, would you please post it here? I know you didn't get many responses, but this is actually a HUGE issue in the farming community. I am interested to know where this goes.

I have found out a bit about this issue. It impacts all of us here in BC and is yet another way our provincial government intentionally or otherwise is going about to shut down the small producers in this province. It is time the province gives real support to farmers' markets, 100 mile diets and sustainable local food supplies. The following was stated by Donna from Just Kidding Ranch.

This article outlines very nicely what the Gov. is proposing.
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This if far more reaching than just Rodear shutting down. After my few talks with people in the business, I am very concerned...I am aware of the guy in the Okanagan that recently shut down his meat business, divorced his wife and is leaving the province, another processor that is saying if the changes go thru...he's shutting down too, another that has had his fill of the rules changing.. How many more are there out there, besides what we in Williams Lake are dealing with?
By the gov. trying to save money they are losing money. "What if" ecoli breaks out under self inspection rules? The mandate as I understand it is to lock down everything, all doctors are on call, pharmacies are required to be available, the media costs etc etc. The money spent on one outbreak could surpass any money they have saved. Look at the XL Meats situation....I personally do not want to see the public have to eat Brazilian meat, thinking it is Canadian meat because it says on the package "packaged" in Alberta! Look at the
And then there are the "less honest" guys that may let meat that is currently condemned go thru the system....they are tight on profit margin...and think...who's gonna know...we are self inspected...my inspector is cousin "?".

Ok, so the issue with this whole thing is....
With the federal gov't pulling the CFIA out of provincial inspection the province needs to create a provincial system and they are unfortunately trying to model it after the bloated and expensive CFIA one.
They're saying it's going to cost 5million dollars a year.

If they could wrap their heads around creating the system from scratch and not trying to copy the CFIA it wouldn't cost nearly that much.
The math doesn't add up..... Lets say there are around 60 provincial plants in the province according to this list [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
And you pay each of those inspectors 60,000$ a year salary each.(we're going to assume fulltime for each plant even though that's not the case)
That comes to 3,600,000$ a year in wages. (edited cuz I screwed up the math....)
Every single provincial plant had to install an office for their inspector so there is no need to have another office/computers/fleet of cars and all the other things that somehow make it all add up to 5 million dollars.
This is once again a case of gov't ineptitude at it's finest. If for some reason the province goes to a self inspected system after all these plants ( on the above list) had to go through the hassle and expense of upgrading their plants to accommodate inspection they are going to have a law suit on their hands.

Sorry but I am pretty sure $60,000X 60 is $3,600,000.

Oops you're absolutely correct, dropped a zero.
still 3.6 million is a far cry from 5 million

Lets add at least 6 supervisor, plus a manager,secretaries, all who need to be paid more then the workers,so thast is another almost million. Then you add the benefits for everyone, another million, and you are over the 5 million. Sounds so stupid but that is how it works.We already have so many inspector that are doing usless job poorly we don't need more. Here is a good example: the law states that on the hiway from Edmonton to Calgary the speed limit is 110 km per h. Yet the Police ( inspectors) only catch a fraction of %1 of the people speeding. Thats right random inspections, and a few people pay a token fine, and the rest go on their way, and everyone is happy. Then a big accident happens the police crack down, catch a few more token speeders and life goes on. Almost everyone speeds on. Great system we have. Have you ever noticed most people try to make rules that effect someone else, but not them.

I visited a farm in Minnesota to buy rabbits. They sold both live and dead stock. If you wanted a nice rabbit for dinner you could stop by on your way home from work and they would butcher one for you there on the spot. No rules, regulations, inspectors, etc. They were shocked we could not do the same in Canada.

I was thinking along the same line as you, Lazyfarmer. While there is a proposal of random inspections, the majority of inspections are to be self inspections by an employee. If we continue with the drivers on the highway, the idea is you catch yourself speeding and phone the police to be punished.

lazyfarmer wrote:Lets add at least 6 supervisor, plus a manager,secretaries, all who need to be paid more then the workers,so thast is another almost million.

And now we're copying the bloated CFIA model.
Why 6 supervisors, one should be able to oversee the scheduling of 60 employees, and why a secretary?
employees should be able to print and fill out their own paperwork and submit it to the supervisor via email. Keep in mind that very few of our provincial plants are operating 8 hours a day 5 days a week. There is ample time to fill out the paperwork required.

rosewood wrote:I was thinking along the same line as you, Lazyfarmer. While there is a proposal of random inspections, the majority of inspections are to be self inspections by an employee. If we continue with the drivers on the highway, the idea is you catch yourself speeding and phone the police to be punished.

And having the employees take responsibility for and ensure a safe product worked really well for XL didn't it? Actually the issue there was more greed on the part of the owner/manager. They didn't care as long as the absolute most meat went through their plant, which meant more money for them. For the most part dollars are what's driving any business, and as we've recently seen with XL (and it's certainly not the only plant who operates with this same mentality). Owners will forego cleanliness and food safety in exchange for money.
No matter how well the staff is trained to recognize problems and illness, if the manager/owner says "no that's perfectly good stuff, put it through". The employee is going to do what they're told to keep their job.
And that is why we cannot allow anyone other than some third party (not paid by the plant) to monitor the meat safety.