The Prince Edward Island government announced Thursday it would withhold all further public assistance from the Natural Organic Food Group (NOFG) hog plant at Charlottetown and bring in the provincial Auditor General to examine the province’s relationship to the plant.
“Given some of the concerns that have been raised, it is simply no longer responsible to risk further public dollars,” said P.E.I. Agriculture Minister Neil LeClair in a release Thursday.
The province reportedly has about $6 million tied up in operating loans in the former Garden Province Meats facility.
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Premier Robert Ghiz said in Thursday’s release that the audit would ensure the public has access to “a thorough understanding of exactly what has taken place at NOFG since taxpayers’ dollars began to flow to that company in 2006.”
The province said it believes the ownership group of Quebec City-based NOFG “has the resources needed to sustain the plant without further contributions from Islanders.”
But if NOFG should “fail to meet its own needs,” the province said it would explore its options, including transition funding for specific hog producers.
The plant’s future remained up in the air Friday afternoon. One of its P.E.I.-based investors told reporters Thursday that the plant would shut its doors that afternoon without government help, but the plant was open for business Friday morning, CBC News reported.
CBC also quoted government officials as saying the province would step in with a receiver to operate the plant if NOFG shuts the doors and walks away. If no private owners could be found, however, the province would wind down the plant’s operations.
NOFG was marketing organic pork produced at the plant under the PEI Pork brand, touting its omega-3 ham, hot dogs and bologna.
