GLAVINE WANTS ACTION FROM NDP TO SAVE AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRY
Date: Friday February 26, 2010

(Halifax, NS) Liberal MLA for Kings West Leo Glavine says the job losses at the Larsen’s plant in Berwick are another blow to an industry and a region already reeling from the economic downturn.

“In the last five years, the Annapolis Valley has lost 1700 to 2000 jobs in and around the agriculture manufacturing sector,” states Glavine. “This government and its Department of Economic and Rural Development need to step up and stop the bleeding at once.”

Larsen's is the only pork production business left in the province and represents 20 per cent of Berwick’s tax base. Glavine fears when it’s gone, what's left of the industry will be gone with it.

“The Valley has seen the closure of Avon Foods, Maple Leaf Poultry, Eastern Protein, ACA Co-operative and a reduction in the workforce at Larsen’s - and the impact of those closures has been far-reaching,” explains Glavine. “Workers in feed, trucking and farm labour have also been casualties of government’s dismantling of this industry.”

Glavine wants the NDP government to be proactive in securing the plant’s future. He is writing a letter to the Minister of Economic and Rural Development to encourage him to meet with Maple Leaf Foods to ensure the remaining 300 to 400 Larsen’s employees stay on the job.

“Piece meal and band-aid solutions haven’t worked in the past and they aren’t the answer today,” Glavine says. “This is an industry that is rapidly disappearing - it is incumbent upon our provincial government to make investments in agriculture manufacturing businesses while there is still a sector to support.”

-30-