by BETTER FARMING STAFF
When the Ontario minister of agriculture simplified the regulations around re-accreditation of general farm organizations less than two weeks ago, the National Farmers Union-Ontario thought a new application to the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture food and Rural Affairs Tribunal would simplify the process.
“We were just trying to streamline the process,” says NFU-O coordinator Ann Slater this morning. “That is not how it turned out.”
Instead, in a re-accreditation “decision” dated Nov. 23 and posted on its website yesterday, The Tribunal wrote it was concerned that “the NFU-O's request to withdraw the existing application and then immediately commence a fresh application may be an abuse of process in the legal sense.”
“The two applications are essentially the same,” the Tribunal decision says.
The online legal dictionary law.com defines abuse of process as “the use of legal process by illegal, malicious, or perverted means.”
The Tribunal ordered the NFU-O to make written submissions about the concerns it raised and invited the minister of agriculture to do the same.
Slater, an organic vegetable grower from St. Marys, says the NFU-O will respond to the Tribunal’s order this week. She insists “it is not the same application. It is an application under the new criteria which would have brought in more up to date evidence.”
“We were in consultation” with “OMAFRA, the minister’s office and other farm organizations,” before withdrawing its application made earlier this year and re-applying for re-accreditation. The NFU-O did not consult with a lawyer before re-applying. “We did not get our own legal advice. We are conscious of how money entrusted to us by farmers should be spent.
“We know that farmers are tired and don’t understand why this process is taking so long. We were trying to do our part to try and move things along and to do it in step with the other organizations.” BF
General farm accreditation archive
Comments
Before the NFU waded into legal matters without the benefit of legal counsel, they should probably have remembered the adage - "A man who represents himself, has a fool for a client". In addition, the NFU doesn't seem to understand that by having issued this type of admonition, the Tribunal is running out of patience with the NFU. If there was ever a time for the NFU to obtain legal advice, it's now because it might soon be too late.
Stephen Thompson, Clinton ON
She still doesn't get it,
THE NFU is being accredited based on the past 3 YEARS, it does not matter what they wish to change after the fact now, regardless the past 3 years they were not following the the ACT end of story, accreditation denied >>>>
Stop the money train to the western office .....
Sean McGivern
This tribunal is great at finding problems. But that's always easy in farming so no awards for doingthat.
Isn't there a better way to deal with farmers and their organizations? Couldn't everyone's interests be best served with a tribunal that identified solutions and offered guidance?
There has been way way too much time and money wasted with all this madness. When will the minister do the right thing and change the process and let everyone involved employ their resources in a more productive manner.
No the Tribunal is great at doing the job they were appointed to do, if you dont like the rules then don't go for accreditation, if every farmer would ask for a refund back there would be no program and there would be no tribunal problem solved, but if you want to have GFO's then they need to play by the rules, it will blow my mind if the the tribunal allows the NFU to be an accredited GFO they only a shelter for their national organization in Saskatoon, their priority is not Ontario farmers. There are less then 1500 farmer members in the rest of Canada with out Ontario they would be out of business in months. Ontario is a cash cow for them, they send money there with no fiormal agreements, no accountability, no invoices, no contracts they just simply mail it off every month and let the west do with as they please, i know first i was once on the inside and seen for my self and was baffled and demand a stop to it as soon as i realized it was happening and i was thrown out.
Sean McGivern
The NFU must be pleased to no end to have such free flowing advise from the pastors of the "other churches" like Mr McGiven and Mr Thompson in their time of need.
It is too bad the tribunal does not look at or follow the mandate of OMAFRA and farm products to see that it states "change must come from the ground up". In their respective over-seeing administrative roles "accountability must also flow from the top down".
The lack of accountability in this accreditation scenario is a disgrace to their intellectual prowess and or their ability to effectively administrate the largest industry in Ont in such an aimless waist-full manner.
If it is possible to fine, charge or dismiss the mayors of Montreal, London, Toronto and even the salvation army found on the wrong side of the law, then it is time to fine, find in contempt or dismiss bureaucrats and the minister wasting tax dollars when their address to solutions through leadership is negligent.
When there is no accountability from the top down the results need to come from the ground up.
It is simple to define a farmer ...he finds solutions and "he feeds you" .
For some reason, the powers-that-be at the NFU have long-been suspicious of anyone offering advice, especially advice about basic economics, basic accounting, and/or basic financial analysis techniques. This suspicion seems to have given NFU members the somewhat schizophrenic ability to constantly complain about "corporate control", yet doesn't allow them to see that the NFU national office in Saskatoon has "corporate control" over everything the Ontario branch of the NFU does.
Stephen Thompson, Clinton ON
Mr Thompson has for years been trying to show us the flaws of our ways in accounting omafra programs and many other things the last 10 years. now we look at a decade of agriculture policy grid lock and now the farm organization accredation. There is a screw loose some where , we have all these educated Guelph people civil servants. Grain farmer have had good prices and that wont last , then what!
How many farmers have bit the dust this last decade because of poor farm organizations lobby, favortism,party politics. Our MP/Mpps reresent teir party they dont repesent rural Ontario
Don't worry, I'm too old to run, wouldn't be electable if I did, and if the sun did rise in the west, and I did win, I wouldn't last because I don't have the patience to suffer fools gladly. A good place to start fixing agriculture's problems, however, would be, even though I'm an Ag. Econ. grad, to abolish the Ontario Agricultural College, as well as the NFU and CFFO.
Stephen Thompson, Clinton ON
In accordance with our guidelines unsigned comment removed.
http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/tribunal/nfu-o-thirdinterimdec.htm
sean McGivern
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