The Back Page: July-August 2013

I tip my hat to the Egg Farmers of Ontario (EFO) and the Egg Farmers of Canada (EFC). If this were baseball, I’d say, “Team Eggs” just smacked two fastballs out of the park.

The first off the bat was for EFO, committing $1 million toward developing the antidepressant drug, Rellidep™, named after Ron Ellis, who was a star player with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Team Canada in 1972. The research is being done by United Paragon Associates Inc., a privately owned, Ontario-based company.

If this exciting project is successful, the impact could be felt around the world, much like another great Canadian medical discovery – insulin. Lianne Appleby wrote an excellent story about Rellidep in the June edition of Canadian Poultry and if you haven’t read it, you really should.

Ron Ellis played for the Leafs from 1963 to 1981. I was such a huge fan of Ellis, I wrote him a letter when the Leafs let him go. He responded with a handwritten note thanking me for my comments. He is a class act and I was shocked when I later found out he had been suffering from serious depression for many years.

Like thousands of other Canadians, Ellis had managed to hide his depression. To his credit, he later decided to use his fame, name and personal story to raise public awareness about this debilitating and often life-threatening medical condition. Today, he is a leader and the face of Rellidep.

Ontario’s egg farmers deserve a standing ovation for stepping up to the plate to help champion this important medical research. I wish the Rellidep project and Ron Ellis all the success in the world.

As for Team Eggs’ second home run, anyone who reads Canadian Poultry magazine knows that despite relentless media attacks, supply management has the support of the federal government, all provincial governments and the vast majority of individual MPs and MPPs – but what about municipal governments? Why not find out what those people think, too?

Well, that is exactly what Egg Farmers of Canada (EFC) did.

The EFC recently commissioned Ipsos Reid to conduct a survey called “Canada’s Mayors and Reeves on Supply Management.” The survey included 124 intensive interviews with mayors, deputy mayors and reeves across Canada. It included many of Canada’s largest cities – meaning that the survey wasn’t limited to rural areas. The jurisdictions included represent 25 per cent of Canada’s population, and there were interesting results.

For example, there was an overwhelming understanding of the need to keep local dairy and poultry farms healthy, realizing the important role farming plays in the local economy. Almost 90 per cent of those surveyed support supply management, with 40 per cent being very supportive. Eighty per cent agreed that supply management is important to the survival of farmers and communities, with almost 50 per cent agreeing strongly.

The survey also revealed that 74 per cent of those surveyed agreed there is no guarantee that getting rid of supply management would lower dairy, egg and poultry prices for consumers. And that result alone was worth the price of admission.

EFC has concluded there is an opportunity for farmers and stakeholders to expand education efforts to dispel myths and falsehoods in an effort to increase further dialogue at the local (municipal) level.

I couldn’t agree more, because nobody is closer to local issues than elected municipal representatives. I think EFC’s decision to commission this survey was brilliant and the timing was perfect. Despite the hundreds of anti-supply management articles and columns that have been published in major daily newspapers or posted online, and the heavy criticism we have all heard and seen on radio and TV, it is important to remember that supply management is not an issue for most Canadians.

In fact, many people (of those who are even aware of it) support supply management. The Ipsos Reid survey has reminded us of that.

The Mayors and Reeves survey and Rellidep are both home runs in my book. Well done, Team Eggs.