Hundreds of maple syrup producers braved snow and freezing rain in Quebec City to march around the National Assembly in protest against a brand new government are convinced that they are saying, if implemented, “will ruin” their iconic industry.
The federation of Quebec maple syrup producers and its parent organization, the Union des producteurs agricole (Quebec’s farmers’ union) taken care of 25 buses “in the four corners of Quebec” to bring the producers to Quebec, said Caroline Cyr, a federation spokeswoman. The farmers first gathered for a rally within the city’s conference centre and then marched around the provincial parliament.
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The farmers’ anger erupted 5 days after Quebec released a report that criticized the iron grip that the federation holds around the province’s syrup producers. In the report, which cites a Financial Post story, “Maple Syrup Rebellion,” Florent Gagn, a longtime Quebec City consultant, wrote that “the system encourages deviants, whose deviance the federation then forcefully punishes.”
As it stands, the federation as strict production targets for its members. Gagn warned this control has pushed producers from Quebec and in to the northeastern United States, New Brunswick and Ontario, where they may make the syrup they want then sell it to whomever they choose.
He cited a 2014 report, financed through the federation, which found that “Quebec’s (syrup) market share has came by 1.2 per cent each year within the last decade, mainly towards the benefit of the United States.”
In a news release Tuesday, however, the federation repudiated its 2014 report. Syrup share of the market decline? “Nothing might be further from the truth! Quebec has held 75 percent of the global maple syrup market over the years on average, with some ups and downs.”
Simon Trepanier, gm of the syrup producers’ federation, explained his group’s apparent repudiation of its own study by stating that Quebec producers have pleaded with the government for permission to place 2.5 million more taps in maple trees.
“In one year we can increase our share of the market by five per cent,” Trepanier said by telephone from Quebec City. “However the government won’t give us quota. There’s an expression: When you wish to kill your dog, you say he’s rabies.”
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Trepanier blasted the Gagn report as biased. He also complained that Gagn did no economic analysis of how his proposed changes would impact production levels.
Marcel Groleau, head of Quebec’s farmers’ union said in a statement that removing quotas “will begin to reduced the need for assets currently estimated at $2 billion.”
Trepanier added that, “Quebec’s maple syrup industry is the locomotive from the maple syrup industry in North America. As not running well it’ll derail the whole industry.”
In his report, Gagn also criticized the tribunal that prosecutes syrup producers.
“It is recommended that the government make sure, when people are nominated to the Rgie des marchs agricoles et alimentaires du Qubec, these be proficient and independent people,” Gagn wrote.
Daniel Gaudreau and Nathalie Bombardier, syrup producers in Scotstown, Que., who’re expecting their third child, face up to $400,000 in fines along with a charge of contempt of court because the federation alleges they disobeyed its rules.
Asked about Tuesday’s rally in Quebec City, Gaudreau said, “That’s their way. When they don’t like something installed tractors, hay bales or cows within the road. It’s a mafia, a cartel that controls agriculture.”
Financial Post
pkuitenbrouwer@nationalpost.com
