The provincial election call last week has increased uncertainties for BC abattoir operators, who have seen demand for local meats surge versus last year as a result of COVID-19. An extension of the feedback window on a rural slaughter modernization intentions paper the province released a week before the election call makes sense to Nova …
abattoir
Closures underscore need for licensing reform
COOMBS – A year ago, Lori Gillis was sounding the alarm about the coming wave of retirements that threatened to drastically reduce meat processing capacity on Vancouver Island. She was 66, and had nearly 23 years’ experience under her belt. “All the butchers – red and poultry – we’re all in the same sort of …
Rethinking the concept for mobile abattoirs
MCBRIDE – Hopes are high that a government-inspected Class E mobile abattoir may soon move to the prototype stage. The proposal is driven by McBride custom butcher Mark Roth, who says the Class E licensing system needs work to better serve small-scale farmers. The construction of a Class A abattoir in McBride in 2011 was …
Industry mourns abattoir champion
A young champion for more meat processing capacity in the Southern Interior has died. Chad Maarhuis of Magnum Meats in Rock Creek collapsed May 10 following a business trip to Calgary. He was 37. A graduate of the meat-cutting course at Thompson Rivers University, Maarhuis purchased Magnum Meats with his wife Erika in 2008. It …
Island farmers renew request for local abattoir
PORT ALBERNI – The Alberni Farmers’ Institute is renewing a request to have the Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District (ACRD) designated a Class D and E licensing area under BC’s Meat Inspection Regulation. “The regional district first made a formal application to the government back in 2017,” says Lisa Aylard, president of the Alberni Farmers’ Institute. “They …
Meat inspection budget tightens
Abattoir operators have been put on notice that regular shifts for provincial meat inspectors must not exceed seven hours a day unless authorized by the province. “I am asking that all slaughter establishment operators adhere strictly to the scheduled inspection services, which do not exceed seven hours per day,” Gavin Last, executive director of the …