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At Issue
In Chatham-Kent, the Impact of BSE is Far Reaching
Tuesday, August 5, 2003
20 years ago, a friend of mine traveled to the Pontiac Silverdome in Michigan to see the Rolling Stones. On his return he told me that "Mick" at age 40 could still really move. It was amazing. For an old guy, he still had it.Fast-forward another 20 years to the SARS benefit concert at Downsview Park in Toronto. There is Mick again, this time at age 60, still moving like he has never moved before. Half a million fans joined him in an all day concert to benefit SARS families and boost the Toronto economy.
At the concert last Wednesday, Premiers Ernie Eves, Gary Doer, Lorne Calvert and Ralph Kline served up good Canadian beef. Ralph Kline was quoted again telling people he'd bet them $10 billion if they ate Alberta beef they wouldn't get the human variant of mad-cow disease.
It was a very good thing that the BSE problem was getting some airplay in Canada's largest urban market. The exposure of the terrible economic pain in beef country caused by the closed American border surely cannot hurt.
For those of us who enjoy a steak on the barbecue, the disaster in beef country hasn’t translated too much lower prices at the grocery store. It's obvious somebody is making a killing. With farm gate beef prices decreasing almost 80% since May, similar cuts at the supermarket, at least in eastern Canada haven't been forthcoming.
Much has been said about the Japanese being the problem. That's because they've had their own "BSE" problem in the past. It's also because they are a big buyer of American beef. They want assurances that none of it is coming from Canada.
The US is concerned that the $800 million US beef market will close if they don't accept Japanese demands. So regardless of what they say about how Canadian beef is safe and it's "science first", the American government is still the problem when it comes to solving our Canadian BSE problem.
Simply put, American/Canadian politics has been poisoned to some extent over the last six months and the Canadian beef industry are the scapegoats. Yes, it was one mangy cow, but tell me I'm wrong. Under our current trade agreements our border should be open and it isn't. George W. Bush has a long memory.
But surely, BSE in Canada is not top drawer for President Bush. This issue is lost deep within the congress and the bureaucratic maze of the US state department. In Canada, it is top drawer with almost daily musings from the provincial premiers. We even had federal Natural Resource Minister Ralph Goodale chime in.
Goodale sent a news release to all Saskatchewan media outlets. In it, he mentioned the three S's - shoot, shovel and shut up. In other words, according to Goodale, the "unjustifiable" way trading partners have dealt with Canada due to its lone case of mad cow disease will encourage other countries to "shoot, shovel and shut up" when dealing with infected animals.
Critics said Goodale publicly said what everybody was thinking. What incentive is there for other countries to test their animals if nobody will listen to the science if BSE is detected? 35 nations have cut off the import of Canadian beef. You can't tell me some shoot, shovel and shut up isn't going to happen in those lands. Credit goes to Goodale. On this issue he's right.
None of this gives any solace to people in the beef industry. When you drive through Chatham-Kent, take a look around. Some of those barns have forty, fifty cattle, some of which have been ready to go since May. So when you see these barns, think about the economic calamity within. All of them have been waiting for our border to reopen. The question is when will that happen and what will be left of the Canadian beef industry then? Regrettably, the answers to these questions have become more difficult to answer as time has worn on.
The national media has been fixated with this issue as an Albertan problem. But it is far greater than that. Although Chatham-Kent is not a large beef-producing region like some others in Ontario, the impact of the BSE thing is far reaching. If it continues, millions more dollars will be lost from the Chatham-Kent economy.
So, as August grows older, I'm sure the barbeques will be sizzling until they reach a crescendo on Labour Day weekend. It's just too bad the same couldn't be said for the entire beef industry.
Philip Shaw, farms 830 acres near Dresden, Ontario. He holds a Masters of Agricultural Economics and Business Degree from the University of Guelph and is a well-known commentator on agricultural issues in print, on radio and over satellite in Canada and the United States. In the Chatham-Kent Times, Phil will use his frank and forthright writing style to address political and economic issues from the local to the international stage. He is a keen observer of political life at all levels, reads widely and has travelled the world to gather fodder for his column. See what's At Issue this week.
