Westco Wins Right to Process Chickens in Quebec

August 27, 2009- The New Brunswick Court of Appeal has ruled that Westco Group Inc. has the right to take its chickens out of New Brunswick and have them processed in Quebec.

August 27, 2009- The New Brunswick Court of Appeal has ruled that
Westco Group Inc. has the right to take its chickens out of New
Brunswick and have them processed in Quebec.

According to the Times and Transcript, the company plans to take chickens to a processing facility (owned by Olymel) until the it builds its own plan in New Brunswick.

It was this decision by Westco that angered Nadeau Poultry Farm, located near Edmunston, and Nadeau went to court to try to stop Westco from taking its poultry to Quebec.

"All these decisions confirm that Westco is free to sell its production to whomever it chooses," Westco President and CEO Thomas Soucy said in a statement.  "This is the position we have been putting forward for several months in all of our statements and we are pleased that another tribunal has confirmed it."

The court decision follows a ruling by a federal competition tribunal that rejected Nadeau's application to prevent Westco from taking its poultry to Quebec.

Westco has offered to hire all Nadeau employees that may lose their jobs and pay them up to 90 per cent of their current salaries during the construction of the new slaughterhouse.