Pork Sector Facing Severe Market Challenges

Canada's pork sector is facing severe market challenges due to COVID-19.

 

Rick Bergmann is chair of the Canadian Pork Council.

 

"We've had some plants close down temporarily because of COVID-19," he said. "That backs up the product on the farm and that just causes more and more problems. We're thankful that we haven't had any major continued closures like our friends to the south, however that said, even when they're going through some of these challenges in the U.S. as well, that has a direct link to ramifications here in some markets in our country."

 

Bergmann says the federal government needs to act now to help producers.

 

"We're at the cusp of something that is extremely significant," he commented. "We're at a different point where some very difficult decisions are going to have to be made in regards to the family farms unless there's going to be an interest by our federal government to help us through this very significant COVID storm."

 

Bergmann discussed the issue Wednesday over the phone with Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau.

Video: Finding a Balance of Innovation and Regulation - Dr. Peter Facchini

Regulations help markets and industry exist on level playing fields, keeping consumers safe and innovation from going too far. However, incredibly strict regulations can stunt innovation and cause entire industries to wither away. Dr. Peter James Facchini brings his perspective on how existing regulations have slowed the advancement of medical developments within Canada. Given the international concern of opium poppy’s illicit potential, Health Canada must abide by this global policy. But with modern technology pushing the development of many pharmaceuticals to being grown via fermentation, is it time to reconsider the rules?

Dr. Peter James Facchini leads research into the metabolic biochemistry in opium poppy at the University of Calgary. For more than 30 years, his work has contributed to the increased availability of benzylisoquinoline alkaloid biosynthetic genes to assist in the creation of morphine for pharmaceutical use. Dr. Facchini completed his B.Sc. and Ph.D. in Biological Sciences at the University of Toronto before completing Postdoctoral Fellowships in Biochemistry at the University of Kentucky in 1992 & Université de Montréal in 1995.