New Canadian Pork Council Chair elected

24-01-2012 | Home | News

At a recent meeting of the Canadian Pork Council (CPC), Mr. Jean-Guy Vincent received the countrywide support of his peers, and will lead the charge for the Canadian pork industry in the upcoming year at the CPC’s helm as its Chair.

Mr. Vincent, a hog producer from Sainte-Séraphine,Quebec,expressed his gratitude for being chosen to represent the industry, a sector which in 2010, accounted for over $3.3 billion in farm cash receipts. “The Canadian hog industry is a vital contributor to the country’s economy. I am honoured to have been chosen to help shape the future of our industry, and look forward to working with my colleagues to address the many challenges and opportunities we will meet over the next year,” he says.

The Canadian hog sector is emerging from the most challenging period in its history. While the past few years have been difficult and the hog sector landscape has changed, the future is more optimistic. The key challenges for the industry are the value of the Canadian dollar, availability of feed grain, consumer preferences, the trade environment and the uncertainty that comes with the future.

Jean-Guy intends to use his time as CPC’s Chair to further strengthen the pork industry by working with Canadian producers, provincial and federal governments and industry partners to:

focus investments and research on reducing the cost of production for hog producers
strengthen the industry value chain with the goal of increasing hog farm cash receipts
put into action a marketing strategy to develop the Canadian market for domestically produced pork and increase the consumption of Canadian pork
encourage activities that would help to eliminate or reduce unnecessary regulatory divergences between Canada and the integrated North American hog industry
support the federal government’s efforts to finalize a free trade agreement with South Korea , the Canada-EU comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement negotiations, joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations and initiating a Bilateral Economic Partnership agreement with Japan due to the long term potential of these agreements for the pork industry
create the environment for producers to take advantage of the great opportunities that exist in the long-term for increased sales of pork in the Asia-Pacific region and the European Union, as well as in Latin America and Eastern Europe.

Mr. Vincent, a representative of the Fédération des producteurs de porcs du Québec (FPPQ), is joined by two other newly elected executive officers, consisting of 1st Vice-President, Rick Bergmann from Manitoba Pork Council and 2^nd Vice-President, Florian Possberg from Saskatchewan Pork.

The CPC serves as the national voice for hog producers in Canada. A federation of nine provincial pork industry associations, the organization’s purpose is to play a leadership role in achieving and maintaining a dynamic and prosperous Canadian pork sector.