To the editor:
Right-wing politicians like to lecture us on how competition in an unencumbered free-enterprise system keeps the economy efficient and the corporations accountable.
However, when one corporation, be it a Wall Street bank or an Albertan beef-processing plant, gains a stranglehold on a single segment of the economy, it quickly becomes a law onto itself.
Instead of enforcing regulations, which have evolved over time to protect employees and the public, politicians pander to the company’s high-paid lobbyists.
XL Foods took a big hit to its bottom line while its Brooks plant was shut down, but profits will soon start rolling in again.
When a single plant processes 35 per cent of Canada’s beef, the operators of that plant will find ways to increase their margins and recoup these recent short-term losses.
Don’t hold your breath waiting for XL Foods to pay for all the damage its done through its negligence, but don’t be surprised if their lobbyists manage to finagle some of your tax dollars out of our glad-handing politicians.
Taxpayers might just end up paying for an expensive government-sponsored advertising campaign to try and restore confidence in the Canadian beef industry, and XL Foods might just end up laughing all the way to the bank.
Lloyd Atkins
Vernon
