Tribunal reaccredits francophone general farm group
Monday, September 15, 2014
UPDATED: Wednesday September 17, 2014
by SUSAN MANN
Ontario’s francophone farm group, L’Union des cultivateurs franco-ontariens, has been reaccredited for another three years, says its general manager.
The group came up for a reaccreditation hearing in August in Ottawa before the Ontario Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Appeal Tribunal. Its current reaccreditation was due to expire in November. It must be renewed every three years. Last Friday the farm group was told by the tribunal its accreditation was being renewed without any conditions until November 2017, says Simon Durand.
“The exact same agreement is continued,” he explains, adding “we should not see any increase or decrease in the funding.”
Durand says “it’s three more years of stability ahead of us so it’s very good news.”
As part of the Farm Registration and Farm Organizations Funding Act, the francophone farm group is eligible to receive funding from the three accredited general farm groups, Ontario Federation of Agriculture, Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario and National Farmers Union – Ontario.
Durand said in an earlier interview their mandate is to represent all 2,000 French-speaking farmers in Ontario. The group is dedicated to promoting the concerns of French-speaking farmers. It also offers training workshops in French and publishes a French agricultural paper – Agricom.
Ontario Federation of Agriculture president Mark Wales says their group provides the francophone group with funding of $100,000 annually. The federation is Ontario’s largest general farm group with 37,000 members.
Nathan Stevens, general manager for Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario, says they pay about $12,600 annually to the francophone group. The amount “floats up and down” a little bit depending on how many farmers the Christian federation gets through the farm business registration process. Currently the Christian federation has slightly more than 4,100 members.
Karen Eatwell, president of National Farmers Union – Ontario, couldn’t be reached for comment.
Wales says the francophone group has a separate reaccreditation process compared to the three general farm groups “and they’re now on a separate timeline,” Wales notes. “We don’t start to go for reaccreditation until 2015.”
Wales notes the francophone group’s criteria for accreditation is different “because they get their money from the general farm organizations. Each of us (OFA, CFFO, and NFU-O) pays so much per member to the UCFO.”
The three general farm groups pay the same amount per member but the Ontario federation’s cheque is much larger than the other two groups because it has more members than either CFFO or NFU-O, Wales says.
Durand says a major project they’re working on is the renewal of the Alfred College campus. That college along with Kemptville College has been slated to be closed next year by the University of Guelph, which currently operates them. The Ontario government has appointed two facilitators, one for each institution, to work with local communities on proposals to keep them open.
Durand says the Alfred facilitator, Marc Godbout, has scheduled a series of public consultation meetings. The first was today in New Liskeard. Other meetings are scheduled for Sept. 23 in Pain Court near Windsor and Sept. 29 in Casselman. The meetings are from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Another meeting being held for farmers is scheduled for Sept. 25 but the location hasn’t been finalized yet. Farmers or other people interested in the fate of the college can attend any of the meetings, he says. BF
UPDATE: Wednesday September 17, 2014
by SUSAN MANN
The L’Union des cultivateurs franco-ontariens represents all francophone farmers in Ontario and also maintains a voluntary membership program.
Currently, there are 699 members of the organization (some of whom have paid a $15 voluntary fee). Membership includes individuals, organizations and farm-related companies. Of this total amount, 657 are individual members says Simon Durand, the organization’s general manager, but adds one family farm operation may have a number of individual members and not simply the farm operator – as is the case for those required to register their farm and choose membership in one of the other three general farm organizations under the 1993 provincial Farm Registrations and Farm Organizations Funding Act.
The organization has seen an eight per cent growth in its total membership since its last application to the tribunal. Durand says UCFO is keen to grow its membership numbers but has no way of identifying beginning francophone farmers. "We don't receive any official numbers (of francophone farmers) from the farm business registration process," he says. BF