Groups organize special provincial election candidate debate on agricultural issues

Thursday, May 15, 2014

by SUSAN MANN

Several Ontario farm groups have joined together to invite the four Ontario party leaders to a special debate on agricultural issues.

The date for the debate hasn’t been finalized yet but the moderator has been confirmed and it’s Steve Pakin from TVO’s The Agenda, says Steve Peters, executive director of the Alliance of Ontario Food Processors. The alliance is one of the groups that issued the invitation for the debate.

The Ontario Federation of Agriculture says in its May 15 notice about the debate that questions will focus on agriculture, the food and beverage sector, the processing industry and matters about rural Ontario.

Peters says invitations went out Wednesday night to Progressive Conservative leader Tim Hudak, Liberal leader Kathleen Wynne, New Democratic Party leader Andrea Horwath and Green Party leader Mike Schreiner. Peters says he understands that so far Schreiner has accepted “but I haven’t seen it (the acceptance).”

Peters says what they’re doing now is trying to get confirmation of the leaders’ participation and then “there would have to be coordination made as far the timing of the date and a location. We hope that all of the party leaders will accept.”

The debate won’t be televised on The Agenda program but it might be live-streamed on the Internet, Peters says.

On Tuesday, the alliance will be releasing a list of issues that it has flagged as important for its members and asking the party leaders to comment, Peters says.

Rising electricity costs is one of the challenges facing food and beverage manufacturers. The alliance is urging the government to establish a fair industrial power rate.

“The cost of power is significant,” Peters says in the alliance’s May 15 press release. “It is also a barrier to re-investment in Ontario.”

Peters says they’re concerned about the number of food manufacturers that have announced recently they’re closing facilities in Ontario, including Heinz, Kellogg’s and Unilever. “We know that this has been a sector that has been important to the Ontario economy for a long time. We also realize it has a lot of potential but there are also issues facing the sector and that’s why feel it’s important to be an advocate for the industry.”

In its report, called Ontario Food and Beverage Processing Industry Strategy – The New Engine for Ontario’s Economy, the alliance identified four primary areas that need action so the sector can build quality Ontario products, including innovation, education and human resources, regulatory and branding Ontario product.

The alliance is a non-profit organization that speaks on matters impacting the food and beverage processing sector and it focuses on the sector’s growth, prosperity and success. BF