Directors pass motion to pull out of KAP

The MCPA Board of Directors passed a motion at its September board meeting to withdraw its membership from the Keystone Agriculture Producers (KAP).

The decision came after debating the idea at two earlier board meetings. Deciding the debate needed to be put to rest, a motion was brought forward by District 1 Director, Brian Sterling and seconded by District 11 Director, Art Jonasson.

“There are many issues over the years where we could have used KAP’s support and they weren’t there,” said Sterling. “Beef represents two thirds of the producers supposedly represented by KAP and we don’t even have a permanent seat on the executive.”

Whether or not to belong to KAP is an issue that has been debated for years around the MCPA board table.

On one hand, the Board believes that it needs to be there to know what is going on within the KAP organization. But on the other hand, the MCPA is uncomfortable with the perception that because they have a seat at the table, that KAP has consulted with the beef industry and their position reflects the best interest of beef producers.

The MCPA Board has grown increasingly concerned that with the difficulties the industry is facing, and given the complex nature of a trade dependent commodity (for example the recent WTO discussions), that KAP cannot represent the interests of beef producers without watering down its support to either beef or the other commodities.
At the time of the vote, Jay Fox was the MCPA’s representative on the KAP board. Earlier this spring, he brought back numerous concerns about KAP’s structure and direction. Fox explained that with the red meat sector having only one seat on the executive (alternating every two years between beef and pork) there are times that the beef sector is not adequately represented. In addition, he didn’t feel comfortable speaking on behalf of Pork because he doesn’t have the expertise to do a proper job. He also questions whether Pork is comfortable representing beef.

The proposed solution was to have an additional seat added to the executive committee to accommodate both red meats, but the request was refused by KAP.

District 11 Director Art Jonasson spoke in favour of the motion.

“We are the recognized voice of cattle producers in Manitoba,” Jonasson said. “I am confident we can stand together with KAP on issues where we have mutual concerns, but on the issues that are specific to the beef industry, we can speak for ourselves.”
The vote was called and the motion passed.