John Rustad has reached out to Premier David Eby asking to join forces to find a "non-partisan" solution to the crisis that has befallen fruit growers in the province following the abrupt shutdown of the BC Tree Fruit cooperative.In a letter sent to Victoria on Thursday, the Conservative leader called on his NDP counterpart to rise above politics and work with him to ensure growers do not suffer in the short or long term.."There are now 330 BC farmers who are scrambling to avoid tens of millions of dollars in losses," Rustad wrote. "I am confident that you share my belief that this is an urgent matter that must rise above partisanship. This letter represents my commitment to work in collaboration with your government to devise a robust and comprehensive solution to the crisis."He went on to note that "after speaking to many farming operations over the past week … I am aware that there is a growing consensus that more needs to be done to save the current harvest, which continues to be in full swing at this stage in the summer." Rustad said that ideas proposed by Agriculture and Food Minister Pam Alexis, such as an "emergency table of stakeholders" or "website listing alternative packers and storage facilities" would do little to address the need to find paths to market, and the competition new packers and facilities would face with 330 farming operations competing for space.He proposed a three-step plan to ensure the situation did not devolve into chaos beginning with "an emergency order to halt the liquidation of any co-op assets until after the harvest season." That would be followed by "bridge funding to continue staffing and operations so that all harvests for the season get to market," and "immediate financial relief to mitigate outstanding amounts owed by the co-op so that none of the 330 members go out of business as a result of the company's closure."Eby has not yet publicly responded to the request.The BC Tree Fruits cooperative announced last month that it would be ceasing operations after nearly nine decades in business. The board of directors decided that as a result of "extremely low estimated fruit volumes and difficult marketing conditions," stakeholders would likely not receive adequate returns.
