By Dori Modney (@Dori_Modney on Twitter)

Beef Producers urged to vote in province-wide plebiscite

Nov 14, 2018 | 2:26 PM

LETHBRIDGE — Voting on the Alberta Beef Producers (ABP) plebiscite has been extended until November 27th.

Beef producer and ABP Chairman, Charlie Christie, says the Marketing Council recognized that challenging weather and the potential disruptions due to Canada Post issues, prompted the decision to give producers as much opportunity as possible to cast their ballots. 

Producers have the opportunity to decide how their commission and their industry should be funded and make it stronger.

A non-refundable check-off would allow for the development of  the Alberta Beef Industry Development Fund (ABIDF), which would support the beef industry through strategic investments of producer check-off dollars in research and technology transfer, market development, education, consumer advocacy, and industry collaboration. The return to a non-refundable service charge would provide approximately $1.4 million annually in funding for the ABIDF.

 Christie sees the result of this plebiscite as one of the most important decisions producers are going to make in the next 20 years.

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“And I gotta say that I am disappointed at what we see as a really low voter turnout at this point.  I think if producers understood fully how important this decision is, we would have a far greater turnout, so I urge people to get in contact with their delegates and become informed and take this extra time to get out there and vote. You can do so at any Alberta Financial Service Corportion (AFSC) office, or by mail-in ballot.”

Christie notes the ABP is a democratic organization run by producers and accountable to producers. 

“Those of us in the organization represent our producers and we dedicate our time to make your voice heard, and in order to do that, we need you to speak up and this vote lets you do that.”

The process “to make your voice known” is simple and straight forward.

 “If you’ve received a declaration in the mail, or have printed one on-line, you can take it to an AFSC office and vote – I wouldn’t recommend putting it in the mail – I would recommend taking it in yourself, to be more timely.”

More information is available in the producers section of AlbertaBeef.org