P.E.I. rejects farmers' plan to take over hog plant

The P.E.I. government has turned down a request from farmers on the province's hog marketing board to take over the regional hog processing plant in Charlottetown.

Provincial Treasurer Wes Sheridan said Tuesday the plan the board put before government simply could not make money. Opposition agriculture critic Jim Bagnall said this was another sign of the Liberal government giving up on the hog industry on the island.

The hog plant went into receivership in January when the province called in a loan from its owners NOFG, a group consisting of a Quebec company and a few Island farmers. A report on the plant found it would have needed a $9 million investment by this summer in order to have any chance of success.

The province is running the plant under a receiver, but says it must find a buyer for the plant to carry on.