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Canadian Sheep Federation meets with federal Minister of Agriculture
February
16, 2004
[Ottawa]
Representatives of the Canadian Sheep Federation (CSF) met with Agriculture
Minister Robert Speller in Ottawa on Friday to discuss the challenges
facing the nation’s lamb producers. Randy Eros, Chair of the CSF
and Jonathan Wort, President of the Canadian Sheep Breeders’Association
briefed the Minister on a number of issues.
"The border closure and its devastating effects on the Canadian lamb
markets was our primary message for the Minister." said Eros. "We
are asking the Minister’s office to show more active support in
our attempts to have sheep and lambs removed from the US import ban. Mr.
Speller is new to his position and it is important for him to understand
the depth of the injury caused to our producers," said Eros. "The
loss of our American market has really pushed the lamb market down. Prices
have fallen by 50% from last year."
The CSF is also asking Mr. Speller to support the Canadian sheep and lamb
industry by providing funding for a Scrapie surveillance and genotyping
strategy. "The Minister has announced considerable support for TSE
surveillance and research for beef in Canada. It is equally important
to deal with this concern in our industry" said Wort. "We have
had a Scrapie control program in Canada since 1945. With new research
tools available to us and increasing import/export requirements it is
time to move from scrapie control to eradication."
"We are encouraged by Mr. Speller’s interest," commented
Jennifer Fleming, CSF National Co-ordinator for on - farm food safety,
who also attended the briefing. "Our meeting provided an excellent
opportunity to highlight the importance of the sheep and lamb industry
in Canada and was an important step in gaining increased government support
and recognition for our initiatives.
The Canadian Sheep Federation is a national, non-profit organization that
represents all Canadian sheep producers. Its mission is to work with all
levels of government and industry related organizations, to further the
viability, expansion and prosperity of the Canadian sheep and wool industry.
For more information please contact the Canadian Sheep Federation at (613)
248-8084.
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