According to Times & Transcript, the legislation has caused great debate in the legislature as it prohibits chicken producer Westco Group Inc. from taking its birds to Quebec in order to protect jobs at Nadeau Poultry Farm Ltd of St-François-de-Madawaska, the only slaughterhouse in the province.

In response to the offer from Westco, Mr Ouellette said that was the intention of the bill exactly, namely to respect the status quo until a better solution could be found. "This could be the solution that we were looking for," he said.

He added that government could drop the bill as soon as he is satisfied that Westco is ready to move forward with its proposal but he rejected the suggestion that the legislation was introduced to force Westco to move forward with its project.