July 18, 2003
The mad cow clock is ticking on the Tories
By NEIL WAUGH -- Edmonton Sun

http://www.canoe.ca/Columnists/waugh_jul18.html

So Ralph Klein has decided not to condemn the SARS-Rolling Stones concert in Toronto after all. To the contrary, Alberta's premier plans on being there on July 30 to boogie with Mick Jagger and the boys, plus a number of lesser acts who are going to convince the world that T.O. is safe again. It's guaranteed to be a dud.

Toronto is not the centre of the known universe, as some would have us believe. The Stones play concerts all over the world - although not necessarily government-subsidized ones. The only people who really care are folks in the immediate vicinity. Klein's visit will be a colossal waste of Albertans' tax money that will hardly achieve its intended purpose.

But that apparently hasn't stopped the premier. His office staff are now scrambling to put together Ralph's Big Barbecue which, as far as I can figure out, is supposed to tell the rest of the world to eat Alberta beef. Although the only part of the world that counts is the United States.

Sunday marks month two of the U.S. ban of Canadian beef imports after a BSE-diseased cow head was discovered in the Alberta Department of Agriculture's fridge. It lay there for three and a half months before the workers got to it, because not only was the lab chronically understaffed, Alberta Agriculture Minister Shirley McClellan apparently decided to appease special interests in her rural caucus and give priority to testing ranched elk and deer over the province's $4-billion-a-year beef industry.

Add to that a transportation regulation that specifically allows visibly sick animals (like the BSE cow was) to be shipped to human consumption slaughterhouses, and it's little wonder the border remains firmly closed.

And that was before the "safeguard" issue surfaced in Washington last week.

Right now the clock is ticking on the Alberta Tories. They've already committed $100 million in Albertans' tax money (cash that could have been spent on schools, health-care facilities, roads, etc.) to temporarily subsidize big corporate meat packers and feedlot operators.

But when all those calves come home from their summer range in the foothills and community pastures, then the PCs will really have a crisis on their hands if the markets for the animals still don't exist.

That starts happening after Labour Day.

Clearly, Klein was feeling the heat earlier this week when he addressed a meeting of American politicians and officials in Calgary. "The beef industry in North America is too integrated to shut off one area to try to protect others," Klein said.

In reality, the Americans have been getting along fine without any Alberta or Canadian beef for nearly two months now. A lot of happy American ranchers have been treated to robust cattle prices.

"The simple fact is, there is no need for the U.S. border to be closed to Canadian beef exports any longer," Klein spat.

It's frighteningly obvious that McClellan had not bothered to brief the premier about the "safeguard" threat that now makes opening the border even more remote.

But U.S. Agriculture secretary Ann Veneman was fully up to speed on what the pesky Japanese are now demanding. "We strongly urged that the safeguard not be instituted," Veneman pleaded after meeting with the Japanese agriculture minister.

It's little wonder she's concerned. The Japanese now want to jump the tariff on U.S. beef imports from 38% to 50%. They also have given the U.S. until Sept. 1 to ensure that no Canadian beef is mingled in with the American beef exports.

Montana Congressman Denny Rehberg knows what this means. "The No. 1 importer of our beef is Japan," said Rehberg, who is in a big Capitol Hill fight over country-of-origin labelling, which Japan wants.

So does Iowa Senator Tom Harkin, who complained bitterly this week about glaring inconsistencies in the Canadian and Alberta disease surveillance system - the one that McClellan has had nearly two months to fix but has done absolutely nothing about.

"Canada has to have a better identification system," Harkin scolded. "They have to have a more rapid determination."

Albertans can't get no satisfaction from Jagger and another overt public eating of hamburgers.