New Brunswick livestock organizations are uniting to call for proper consultation following the province’s decision to end government-run veterinary and laboratory services.
The province plans to phase out services over three years and will hand over animal health care to private providers.
The newly formed New Brunswick Agricultural Alliance-Industry Vet & Lab Services Response Committee said the move, announced as part of New Brunswick’s recent budget, will impact farm owners across the province.
However, no one was consulted.
“It feels very disrespectful to us as an industry that no plans have been made for this,” said Michael Bouma.
“Bring us to the negotiating table, let’s talk. I think that’s the minimum.”
Bouma, who has 120 Holstein cows on his dairy farm and also produces beef, is on the board of directors of the Dairy Farmers of New Brunswick.
He said his members were concerned about the changes.
“I think I probably spend three hours on the phone every day with beef producers, dairy producers from my area and also from different areas of the province,” he said.
Dairy Farmers of New Brunswick is one of nearly a dozen organizations that are part of the new committee. They intend to work with the province to ensure pet owners have access to the veterinarians and diagnostic services they need through the lab.
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“We are calling for a pause in change, working with industry, consulting deeply, and building a sustainable financial model for the future,” said Danielle Connell, president of the NB Agricultural Alliance.
Connell emphasized that it’s not just farmers and livestock owners who are worried. He heard from a veterinarian who was also concerned.
“The veterinary community is very upset. Emotions are very high. This is their livelihood. This is their passion. This is what they have dedicated their lives to,” he said.
Mary Ellen Themens, a veterinarian with the New Brunswick Veterinary Medical Association, said the organization joined the committee because they care about the communities in which they work. Their objections include what will happen to veterinarian workloads and the future of current diagnostic laboratories.
“To do more than one or two farm calls in a day, that’s a lot, and without subsidies or a big plan, it’s going to be very challenging,” Themens said.
“Our diagnostic laboratories are so critical to our infrastructure that to lose them would be a disaster.”
Agriculture Minister Pat Finnigan previously acknowledged the province did not consult with private veterinarians or industry members before announcing the decision.
Finnigan said because the service would be phased out over three years, this would provide space for consultation to occur.
However, Bouma and Connell see it differently.
“If this is a plan, this is a very bad thing you could do,” Bouma said.
Connell said he hopes the plan will be halted by the end of this month.
“The lack of consultation was a surprise. Everyone would assume there would be a lot of consultation when launching something like this,” he said.
Finnigan declined an interview with Global News for this story, but sent a statement saying he met with the NB Agriculture Alliance and its groups earlier this month.
He said that meeting, and others recently held, had been “instrumental in helping me better understand their concerns and challenges” and he was committed to working with them in the future.
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