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Hundreds of maple syrup producers braved snow and freezing rain in Quebec City to march on the National Assembly in protest against a brand new government are convinced that they say, if implemented, “will ruin” their iconic industry.
The federation of Quebec maple syrup producers and it is parent organization, the Union des producteurs agricole (Quebec’s farmers’ union) paid for 25 buses “from the four corners of Quebec” to bring the producers to Quebec, said Caroline Cyr, a federation spokeswoman. The farmers first gathered for any rally within the city’s conference centre after which marched around the provincial parliament.
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The farmers’ anger erupted five days after Quebec released a report that criticized the iron grip 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 machine 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 out of Quebec and in to the northeastern United States, New Brunswick and Ontario, where they may result in the syrup they need 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 dropped by 1.2 percent per year in 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 could be further from the truth! Quebec has held 75 per cent from the global maple syrup market through the years on average, with a few ups and downs.”
Simon Trepanier, general manager of the syrup producers’ federation, explained his group’s apparent repudiation of their own study by saying that Quebec producers have pleaded with the government for permission to put 2.5 million more taps in maple trees.
“In one year we can increase our share of the market by five percent,” Trepanier said by phone from Quebec City. “However the government won’t provide us with quota. There’s an expression: When you want to kill your pet, you say he’s rabies.”
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Trepanier blasted the Gagn report as biased. Also, he 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 quickly reduced the value of assets currently estimated at $2 billion.”
Trepanier added that, “Quebec’s maple syrup industry is the locomotive of the maple syrup industry in The united states. If we are not running well it’ll derail the entire industry.”
In his report, Gagn also criticized the tribunal that prosecutes syrup producers.
“Our recommendation is that the federal government make certain, 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 are 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. Once 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
