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By Victor Kaisar

BCGEU Strike

With processing industry frozen, TNRD calls on province to designate meat inspectors as essential

Sep 11, 2025 | 6:15 PM

KAMLOOPS — The Thompson Nicola Regional District (TNRD) is calling on the province and the BC Government Employees Union (BCGEU) to reinstate all meat inspectors who are currently on strike and to have the industry deemed an essential service.

Area “L” Director Doug Haughton raised the issue at Thursday’s (Sept. 11) TNRD meeting and said the ongoing strike has impacted operations at three meat processing plants within the regional district — Rangeland Meats on Knouff Lake Road, Kam Lake View Meats in Cherry Creek, and Rainer Meats in Darfield.

Speaking to CFJC Today, Haughton said the owners of the three plants were told earlier this week that they would not have any meat inspection services for the rest of this week and possibly longer.

“Which means that people cannot take live animals to the plant to have them processed because at these plants, the animals must be inspected by a provincial meat inspector,” Haughton said. “Basically, processing is not being done and it impacts supply of meat that the three were going to process two weeks from now when they go to cut and wrap it.”

Haughton said the ongoing strike is also having a number of impacts on two event scheduled for next week — the B.C. Ag Expo in Barriere and the Provincial Winter Fair (PWF) in Kamloops.

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“The beef carcass-class animals were not able to be processed this week,” Haughton added. “In fact as we speak, they’re on a truck to Grindrod to be processed there in time for our fairs. The good folks at Meadow Valley Meats were very accommodating to have that done for us [Friday].”

Organizers of the Provincial Winter Fair — set for Sept. 19 to 22 — told CFJC they’re “cautiously hopeful that there will be inspectors next week for the remaining carcass projects.”

“After the fair is obviously still a question mark,” the PWF executive said. “The local plants will be backed up, but they do know that we have market projects, and so while the dates might change, we are hopeful that if there are inspectors, things will go through, albeit a bit more slowly than we are used to.”

“We are seeking alternative… options if necessary [but] we urge all exhibitors and families to reach out to their local government representatives, Ministry of Agriculture and BCGEU to advocate for our fair and the welfare of our livestock.”

Essential service designation to come: Premier Eby

Speaking in the Logan Lake area, Premier David Eby said the province will be asking the Labour Relations Board to deem meat inspectors and abattoirs as an essential service to avoid “unnecessary suffering among animal populations.”

“They should be an essential service and, typically, they have been considered an essential service in previous labour disputes in British Columbia,” Eby said during a media availability Thursday.

“I also want to reassure British Columbians that this is less a food security issue and more an animal welfare issue. The vast majority of abattoirs are federally inspected and so food supplies will not be interrupted. This is about making sure that farmers who depend on these provincially inspected facilities are able to continue operating.”

The BC Conservatives blame the government for failing to designate these animal inspectors as an essential service, calling it a “serious lapse in judgment that puts food safety, animal welfare, and the stability of our food supply at risk.”

“Without guaranteed inspection services, small producers and processors face serious uncertainty” BC Conservative Labour critic Kiel Giddens and Agriculture critic Ian Paton said in a statement.

“Food safety and animal welfare are not negotiable. Local food production is not expendable.”

The BCGEU also blamed the government for the issue impacting local abattoirs and the agricultural sector. The union also agreed that these inspectors should be deemed an essential service, and blamed the government for not doing so earlier.

BCGEU president Paul Finch said he only found out about the issue on Wednesday and said the union was not aware the government had designated the inspectors’ assembly point at a building that was being picketed as part of the ongoing strike.

According to Finch, these workers don’t normally work out of that building.

Eby said Friday, the province is “working hard” to designate live animal inspectors as an essential service, though its not clear when or if that will take effect.

“In the meantime, we have a process in place to allow these facilities to continue operating,” Eby added, though he didn’t specify what the process is.

Haughton said while he is encouraged by the Premier’s comments, the issue will take time to resolve.

“It impacts the viability of these plants for this week and following weeks if they decide to prevent inspections from happening,” Haughton noted. “These plants struggle enough and if you take a week or two out of their processing…it’s our whole food security program that’s at stake.”

“I understand the workers right to strike but I wish they would do it in front of a courthouse and not impact a small private abattoir,” Haughton added. “I hope for the province’s sake we can get this all resolved and get everyone back to work whether its meat inspection or the other government services that we depend on in British Columbia.”