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Meet the international trade expert who is helping support the Canadian beef industry abroad

John Weekes, an independent business advisor who has worked with the National Cattle Feeders’ Association (NCFA) on trade issues, is the subject of this week’s Meet the Team series profile.

John is an expert in international trade policy and a senior business advisor at Bennett Jones in Ottawa. He has been a huge asset to NCFA in developing a strategic approach to negotiating with government and stakeholders.

Supporting Canadian cattle feeders in Ottawa

During his career, John has been chief negotiator for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Canada’s ambassador to the World Trade Organization (WTO), chair of the WTO General Council, and ambassador to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) during the Uruguay Round of GATT negotiations. His insider’s perspective on governments’ approach to trade matters has been invaluable to NCFA.

Trade files he has worked on include:

Country-of-Origin Labelling (COOL)

In 2002, the U.S. introduced a regulation requiring all beef (and some other agriculture products) to have a label stating where it was from. To be labeled as U.S.-sourced, the animal had to be born, raised and processed in that country. Processing plants in the U.S. were required to keep Canadian born and raised animals separate from those born and raised in the U.S., a requirement that was costly to adhere to. As a result, Canadian exports to the U.S. suffered, and some U.S. plants were forced to close. Many jobs were lost on both sides of the border, and COOL cost the Canadian beef industry billions of dollars. 

Canada appealed to the WTO in 2008 and, in December 2015, won. The U.S. Congress repealed COOL to avoid $1 billion in retaliatory tariffs authorized in the WTO ruling. 

As Canada’s former ambassador to the WTO, John was uniquely positioned to provide advice through the complex web of WTO tribunals and the excruciatingly long appeals process. John worked with NCFA and others on this, including advising federal government officials. His contacts within the U.S. were also helpful in getting NCFA’s messages through in Washington, and he helped us communicate with Canadian importers who might have been harmed if Canada retaliated against U.S. imports into Canada.

Canada-E.U. Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA)

This free trade deal between Canada and the EU came into effect on September 21, 2017. It will allow Canada to ship 65,000 metric tonnes of beef into the EU, without duty or tariffs. This could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars to Canada’s beef industry. John did a great job monitoring developments, needs and the political climate within the EU, and is continuing to contribute while the details are being finalized.   

Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) 

Canada was not part of the group that began this trade negotiation, but NCFA urged the Canadian government to become part of the TPP process, which it did. John offered advice on what Canada should secure in this negotiation. Now that the U.S. has chosen not to ratify the deal, John will lend his expertise to a new round of negotiations with other TPP partners, if talks go ahead.

North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) 

As Canada’s former Chief Negotiator for NAFTA, John has an unrivaled understanding of the ins and outs of the agreement, and his opinions are sought by industry and government during the current and ongoing negotiations with NAFTA.

Why international trade matters

Canadian beef is renowned worldwide for its great taste and high quality. A healthy export industry contributes to a healthy Canadian economy. Expertise such as John’s is vital to NCFA in securing the conditions our beef producers need to develop profitable relationships with customers across the globe.

You can read more about international trade issues in ‘Canadian beef trade with China takes a serious blow’, ‘Cattle feeders head to Ottawa to support NAFTA negotiations’, ‘Feeding the world: why the agri-food industry must be an economic priority’ and ‘How people in 58 countries enjoy Canadian beef’.

Meet the team: Ryan Kasko, vice-chair of the board

Here at the Alberta Cattle Feeders’ Association we couldn’t truly represent the interests of our industry without input from our board of directors. Comprised of the men and women who work in the cattle feeding industry every day, our board helps provide direction for all our activities.

For this week’s post, we sat down with Ryan Kasko, CEO of Kasko Cattle Company in Coaldale, Alberta, and vice-chair of ACFA’s board of directors, for another installment of our meet the team series.

Ryan grew up just outside Coaldale, the son of a cattle dealer, but it wasn’t until after graduating from the University of Lethbridge, with a bachelor of management degree, that he became involved in the industry himself. At that time he joined his father’s business, and two years later they decided to buy a feedlot together.

That was 20 years ago, and Kasko Cattle Company now has feedlots in four different locations. As it has expanded, it has also provided opportunities for other family members – Ryan’s wife, Shannon, is the office manager, and his brother and brother-in-law, and their wives, also work in the business.

“It’s an exciting industry to be in,” said Ryan. “The technologies we are using today are really sophisticated, and we’ve made significant improvements over the last 20 years, in the way we manage people and how we take care of the animals – it’s an industry that’s just been constantly changing and it’s great to be a part of that change.”

Helping the ACFA represent a changing industry to the government

Ryan has been on the ACFA board for five years now, a responsibility he takes very seriously. “It’s important to serve the industry,” he said, “and I’ve done that in different organizations through the years. I think the ACFA does a very good job representing cattle feeders in Alberta and I thought it was important I take my turn.”

“There’s been a lot of things going on recently,” continued Ryan. “New laws around labour standards and safety, and initiatives like the carbon tax have significant impacts on our operations. The ACFA works with government to help them understand the industry, and what we do every day – to help them make decisions that are going to work for our industry and the people involved in it. As a board, we help provide the association with direction.”

The Kaskos at home

With four children – one in middle school, two in high school and one in his first year of college – Ryan and his wife have a very busy family. They enjoy watching basketball together, and while his kids also play, Ryan says that watching is enough for him. For stress relief, though, he plays squash and competes in triathlons.

In other posts in our meet the team series, we introduced you to Bryan Walton, CEO, Page Stuart, past board chair, Martin Zuidhof, board chair, Casey Vander Ploeg, manager of policy and research, and Jennifer Brunette, manager of events and member services.

Meet the team: Jennifer Brunette, manager of events and member services

For any industry association, getting its members together in one place can be a monumental task. Here at ACFA that task falls to Jennifer Brunette, our manager of events and member services. This week on our meet the team series, we’re going to get to know a little about Jennifer and her work.

Before joining ACFA, Jennifer studied event management and public relations at Mount Royal University, and her training has stood her in good stead. She plays an instrumental role in ACFA’s day-to-day operations, as well coordinating events such as Big on Beef, our annual golf tournament, and – most importantly – the Alberta Beef Industry Conference.

The conference is hosted in conjunction with the Alberta Beef Producers, the Alberta Livestock Dealers and Order Buyers Association, the Alberta Auction Markets Association and the Western Stock Growers Association, and Jennifer does a great job of pulling together an event that unites beef producers, processors and suppliers from Alberta and around the world.

“I love dealing with our suppliers and producers,” said Jennifer. “I get to work with such a diverse group of people, and reach out to a lot of industry stakeholders. I take a great deal of pride in making sure that we showcase our sponsors and participants at the highest level possible.”

img_0359Jennifer grew up around ranch operations and feedlots, and yet her journey to this industry was not a direct one. As a teenager in Oliver, B.C., she went from high school into a position with a local credit union. Her career was going well, and she didn’t anticipate any reason to change.

But then Jennifer had an accident that put a wrench in her plans. After being involved in a pedestrian/motor vehicle accident, she was told that she might never walk again, and so began seven years of intensive therapy and the greatest challenge of her life.

“I was 21 when it happened, and that accident took a chunk of my youth,” said Jennifer. “I persevered through years of intensive therapy. Regaining the ability to walk on my own two feet has been one of the biggest achievements of my life. It has also given me the ability to approach life with passion and determination; I no longer take the simplest things for granted.”

Now Jennifer lives in Calgary with her husband and her two boys, aged three and six.

We asked Jennifer for one final word about her work with cattle feeders and the association – “Everyone who works in this industry is very passionate and driven to move the industry forward in a positive light. Our members and board are such an amazing group of people. I have great respect and admiration for the work they do, not only for the industry but on their own operations as well,” she said.

Check out these other posts in our meet the team series, in which we introduce Bryan Walton, CEO, Page Stuart, past board chair, Martin Zuidhof, board chair, and Casey Vander Ploeg, manager of policy and research.

Meet the team: Casey Vander Ploeg, manager of policy & research

Casey Vander PloegThis week in our meet the team series, we’re getting to know Casey Vander Ploeg, who is our master of research and fact gathering. With his background in political science and reporting, he pays the kind of attention to detail required when it comes to advocating for the feedlot industry and policy making.

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Meet the team: Page Stuart, past board chair

This is the first in our ‘Meet the team’ series, and this week we’d like to introduce you to Page Stuart. As she transitions from board chair to past chair, Page remains a powerful asset to our association.

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