Timmins-James Bay MPP Gilles Bisson is trying to make artisan cheese produced in Northern Ontario more accessible across the province. Bisson says he met with the Ministry of Agriculture last week to discuss some potential changes that could benefit fromageries and the economy across the region.
Right now under the Milk Act all artisan cheese needs to be shipped and transported the same way milk is, but that doesn’t work. Bisson says this type of cheese needs to be kept at warmer temperatures.
Bisson says in Kapuskasing the cheese produced by la Fromagerie Kapuskoise is some of the best of its kind in North America. He says Ontario should follow suit with places like Quebec and France where artisan cheese is shipped and handled differently than other cheese and milk products. Bisson says if you’re able to build an environment where people can invest and build other cheese factories you’ll do to Northern Ontario and cheese what Southern Ontario has done to wine.
The MPP met with the Ministry of Agriculture last week to speak about changing some of the rules around transporting artisan cheese in the province and says he will be meeting with the Porcupine Health Unit this week to go into some of the finer details.
