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For Immediate Release Broken Promise for Local Abattoirs QUEEN’S PARK – Ernie Hardeman, MPP for Oxford and critic for Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, today asked the Minister of Agriculture why the McGuinty government had failed to deliver the promised support to local abattoirs. “If you care so much about local food and food safety why – according to your estimates - are you spending $4.3 million less this year to help small abattoirs meet the new regulations?” asked Hardeman. The Minister boasted about previous support for local abattoirs, but Hardeman pointed out that Public Accounts and Estimates documents released by the government showed that 25% of the funding had not been delivered. The Minister claimed that the government had spent $25.3 million when documents show it was less than $17.5 million. “Over a quarter of the money that you are claiming credit for never actually went out the door,” said Hardeman. “Now that you have been found out will you apologize to our small abattoirs and use the rest of the money you announced to help them? Or are you writing off the rest of Ontario’s small abattoirs?” Many small abattoirs have indicated that they can’t afford to meet the government’s new regulations without assistance. Some of them have already closed or indicated that may be their only option. One government MPP even wrote to the Agriculture Minister to “implore” that she look for solutions on the regulations. “We understand that for Ontario farmers to succeed they need processing capacity and that the many small abattoirs across the province are an important part of that system,” said Hardeman. “It is simply unfair for the government to impose heavy regulations and then mislead people about how much support they have provided for small businesses trying to meet that burden.”
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