Minister brought up to speed on 2011 Plowing Match

For the first time in recent memory, it’ll be held in the United Counties of Prescott and Russell, Dombrowsky learned from organizing committee chairman Gary Barton, coordinator Brunot Lecot, and other members of the IPM team.

In case there was any confusion, the organizers brought along the Leduc Bus Lines Ltd. coach decked out in a mobile IPM billboard, including a map showing how to get to the 2011 site east of Hawkesbury.

As another reminder, the Ontario Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs received a copy of the 2011 collectable cookbook sponsored by the St. Albert co-op with a $25,000 donation.

Dombrowsky came to St. Albert with her good pal Jean-Marc Lalonde, MPP for Prescott-Russell-Glengarry, to officially open a $9 million ultra-sanitary state-of-the-art addition to the cheese factory which will enhance safety of the products by limiting human contact with them. A provincial program contributed $1.3 million to the project.

Speaking on the production floor, Dombrowsky complimented members of the 115-year-old St. Albert co-operative – “a pocket of determined, dedicated, hard-working farmers” - for serving as an inspiration to the agricultural industry by not being afraid to take risks and by always being ahead of the curve.

Never content to rest on its laurels, the co-op continues to expand on several fronts, including promoting its many products in the Toronto market and recently acquiring a factory in Mirabel… as revealed by long-time St. Albert manager Réjean Ouimet.

Dombrowsky was equally effusive in her praise for Lalonde as a dedicated area representative and for the St. Albert operation, stating that it stands as a “beacon” for its ability to invest wisely and to demonstrate the competitive edge so necessary for a successful business.

Always an entertaining speaker, Dombrowsky referred to her farming background, her local connection – she has a sister in Rockland – and even her distant Francophone roots… her maiden name is Cournoyer. At one point she taunted photographers for taking pictures of her in the mandatory hair net, insisting they take as many as they wanted because the net is a symbol of the food safety effort in Ontario.

Outside the cheese factory event, the minister was asked about another St. Albert issue…

the proposal by Machabee Animal Food Ltd. to build a bio-digester near the village to process livestock carcasses known as deadstock.

Earlier this year, she cut off financial support to commercial deadstock collectors such as Machabee which covers all of Eastern Ontario. However, she said she fully endorses the concept of central disposal facilities at least partly subsidized by government.

“But I’m not paying for gas to put in deadstock trucks”, she reiterated.