Dear Minister Ritz,
I am writing on behalf of those who are left of the 135,000 Canadian producers farming cattle in 2003, after the BSE crisis changed the face of our industry forever. At last count the number of cattle producers in Canada was down to 99,265 (StatsCan Cattle Statistics – Feb 2010). However, more are dropping out every day.
I met with my local MP Blaine Caulkins on Tuesday last week concerning the now certified BSE class action suit currently in your hands awaiting your decision on which way to turn.
If you decide that it should, the case will go to trial. A huge decision on your part, and I don’t envy you. Do you gamble to guarantee that millions of taxpayer dollars will be spent on lawyers to see if they can get the government off the hook for this situation that the Supreme Court of Canada has decided to be not only legitimate, but worthy of a trial at the very least? Do you take the chance that your term will expire well before any decision is made and those who remember that you chose the trial route and lost will think of you fondly? Or if you win, those who you supposedly represent are sent packing with nothing.
This BSE fiasco is not your fault Minister Ritz. It all happened well before you had the influence that you know have as Minister of Agriculture for this country. Once again, I feel for you and the decisions you have to make, however that is the choice we make when we run for political leadership.
Of course, you do have another choice. The choice to read the claim and have a look at the petition currently moving through the rural and urban communities in this fine country. A petition that simply asks you to move toward mediation rather than take the long road of a trial.
My MP suggested that it was the ranchers who chose the trial route. I say that it was the Supreme Court of Canada that suggested the trial option after seeing evidence that is overwhelmingly in favour of compensation for producers as a result of some very sad and pathetic decisions made by government officials, prior to and subsequent to May 20, 2003.
Mediation simply means that we are ready to talk Minister Ritz. Talk about how this class action suit can be settled without toppling your government and without leaving the producers who you represent with even less to be optimistic about. Always toward the middle Minister Ritz and in fact “semper ad meliorum.”
Randy Kaiser
I am writing on behalf of those who are left of the 135,000 Canadian producers farming cattle in 2003, after the BSE crisis changed the face of our industry forever. At last count the number of cattle producers in Canada was down to 99,265 (StatsCan Cattle Statistics – Feb 2010). However, more are dropping out every day.
I met with my local MP Blaine Caulkins on Tuesday last week concerning the now certified BSE class action suit currently in your hands awaiting your decision on which way to turn.
If you decide that it should, the case will go to trial. A huge decision on your part, and I don’t envy you. Do you gamble to guarantee that millions of taxpayer dollars will be spent on lawyers to see if they can get the government off the hook for this situation that the Supreme Court of Canada has decided to be not only legitimate, but worthy of a trial at the very least? Do you take the chance that your term will expire well before any decision is made and those who remember that you chose the trial route and lost will think of you fondly? Or if you win, those who you supposedly represent are sent packing with nothing.
This BSE fiasco is not your fault Minister Ritz. It all happened well before you had the influence that you know have as Minister of Agriculture for this country. Once again, I feel for you and the decisions you have to make, however that is the choice we make when we run for political leadership.
Of course, you do have another choice. The choice to read the claim and have a look at the petition currently moving through the rural and urban communities in this fine country. A petition that simply asks you to move toward mediation rather than take the long road of a trial.
My MP suggested that it was the ranchers who chose the trial route. I say that it was the Supreme Court of Canada that suggested the trial option after seeing evidence that is overwhelmingly in favour of compensation for producers as a result of some very sad and pathetic decisions made by government officials, prior to and subsequent to May 20, 2003.
Mediation simply means that we are ready to talk Minister Ritz. Talk about how this class action suit can be settled without toppling your government and without leaving the producers who you represent with even less to be optimistic about. Always toward the middle Minister Ritz and in fact “semper ad meliorum.”
Randy Kaiser
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