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Livestock organizations in New Brunswick are banding together to call for proper consultation after the province’s decision to end government-run veterinary and lab services.
The province plans to phase out services over three years and will be handing off animal medical care to private providers.
The newly-formed Agriculture Alliance of New Brunswick-Industry Vet & Lab Services Response Committee says the move, which was announced as part of New Brunswick’s recent budget, will affect farm owners throughout the province.
And yet, no one was consulted.
“It really feels very disrespectful to us as an industry that there was no plan made for this,” said Michael Bouma.
“Get us around the table, let’s talk. That I think is bare minimum.”
Bouma, who owns 120 Holsteins on his dairy farm and also produces beef, is on the Dairy Farmers of New Brunswick’s board of directors.
He says their members are concerned about the change.
“I think I probably spent three hours on the phone every single day with beef producers, dairy producers from my area and actually from different parts of the province as well,” he said.
The 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 make sure animal owners have access to veterinarians and the diagnostic services they need through labs.
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“We’re asking to pause the changes, work with industry, consult in depth, and build a financially sustainable model for the future,” said Danielle Connell, president of the Agriculture Alliance of NB.
Connell points out it’s not just farmers and livestock owners who are concerned. She’s heard from veterinarians who are apprehensive as well.
“The veterinarian community is very upset. Emotions are very high. This is their livelihood. This is there passion. This is what they’ve devoted their lives to,” she said.
Dr. Mary Ellen Themens, a veterinarian with the New Brunswick Veterinary Medical Association, said the organization joined the committee because they care about the community they work in. Their reservations include what will happen to veterinarians’ workload and the future of the current diagnostic lab.
“To do more than one farm call or two farm calls in a day, that’s a lot, and without substantial subsidization or some plan, it’s going to be very challenging,” said Themens.
“Our diagnostic lab is so critical to our infrastructure that it would be disastrous to lose it.”
Agriculture Minister Pat Finnigan has previously acknowledged the province did not consult private veterinarians or industry members before announcing the decision.
Finnigan said because the services are being phased out over three years, it will allow room for the consultations to occur.
However, Bouma and Connell see it differently.
“If this was a plan, this is about as badly as you could have possibly have done it,” said Bouma.
Connell says she’s hoping to see a pause to the plan by the end of the month.
“The lack of consultation was a surprise. Everyone would assume that there would be plenty of consultation when rolling out something like this,” she said.
Finnigan declined an interview with Global News for the story, but sent a statement saying he met with the Agricultural Alliance of NB and groups earlier this month.
He said that meeting, and other recent ones, have been “instrumental in helping me better understand their concerns and challenges” and he is committed to working with them moving forward.
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