“This decision gives us the direction we needed,“ says Wilma Jeffray, Chair of Ontario Pork. “A decision of this magnitude with so many stakeholders could not have been easy. The Tribunal’s process was fair and balanced. Ontario Pork will be working with producers, the Commission and industry stakeholders as we lead this change. Much of the foundational work for this process has been considered already.“

Ontario Pork will seek clarity from the Tribunal on particular details in the Orders. The timelines for some of the orders will require producer decisions and Ontario Pork will assist in this process. Although a window of 18 months has been indicated, Ontario Pork is well positioned to act on many of its strategic directions now, including governance structure. The organization is focused on the future.

Ontario Pork represents the 2,300 farmers who market hogs in the province in many areas, including hog marketing, research, government representation, environmental issues, consumer education and food quality assurance. The pork industry in Ontario accounts for 27,000 jobs, and it is estimated that total industry output from farm gate sales is worth $4 billion to the Ontario economy.