Provincial treasurer hopes beef plant deal coming soon WAYNE THIBODEAU The Guardian
An agreement to keep P.E.I.’s struggling beef plant open could be days away.
Provincial Treasurer Wes Sheridan says the Island now has the agriculture ministers from neighbouring New Brunswick and Nova Scotia onside. He said if the agriculture ministers can get their proposal though their respective cabinets, a deal could be announced early next week that will give the Albany, P.E.I., plant a new lease on life.
The federal government is also said to be playing a critical role at this point in the negotiations.
“We’re not there yet,” Sheridan told reporters Friday.
“We’re very optimistic that this is going to come together, and sooner, rather than later.”
In June, the P.E.I. government handed the plant another $1.5 million and an ultimatum — find a way to break even or face closure.
At the time, Premier Robert Ghiz said the province could be on the hook for as much as $30 million and he was not prepared to put any more of P.E.I. taxpayers’ money at risk in the plant.
The $1.5 million has nearly run out and a deal still has not been reached, but Sheridan remains confident.
The provincial treasurer would not say how much money New Brunswick, Nova Scotia or the federal government has on the table for the P.E.I. plant, but all three are expected to contribute.
“I don’t want to jeopardize any of that by throwing out the exact numbers that they are proposing now. They are still in negotiations,” he added.
Sheridan said they are waiting for the “final piece” of the puzzle.
When asked what the final piece is, he said: “The final piece is for the agriculture ministers to all get their cabinet approvals.”
There is a lot riding on this deal for the industry and for the new Liberal government.
There are the workers at Atlantic Beef Products and the farmers who need the plant to process their beef.
But there will also be a political price to pay for the new Liberal government if the deal falls through and the new Liberal government is forced to shut down the plant.
Sheridan said any new money will be used to operate the plant and will not be used to pay off the plant’s long-term debt, which is now secured by the province.
“It’s going to be a very exciting number,” Sheridan said, making reference to the financial package on the table from neighbouring provinces and the federal government.
“It’s going to be something that’s going to give this plant a real life.”
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Shawn Worth from Burnaby, B.C writes: Companies all over Canada and not just P.E.I need to develope their own plans. And not rely on the government for hand outs . If your stuff you are selling is just as good as everybody's else's and your price is lower, then people will buy.
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Socialism4Beef from PEI writes: This new governmnet is true to it's socialist tendencies. I thought these people said the deadline for this failed business was last month. Let's see a true accounting of this great black whole. Let's look at it like a business. If it was a sound investment in the first place what went wrong? Why are we continuing to dump money down this whole. The last government and many before them, have pointed out the fraud of PEI governments 'investing' my money.If only we had the discipline of the market place. This plant is a welfare scheme for beef operators. I doubt they need the welfare but like a lot of business folk, they'll grab any advantage they can. In the real world the CEO would have been canned a long time ago. The person selling this investment would be without clients and the plant would be sold as is, where is. But here in fools paradise just keeping pumping our money down the patronage drain. And we all get to pay these amateurs.
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