Merger proposal goes to provincial commission in July

by SUSAN MANN

“What they want to do is to establish a new organization under the Farm Products Marketing Act,” says David Hope, commission chair.

The normal procedure for a group wanting to establish a new organization is to go to the commission. If the commission determines there’s significant support for the idea and the organizers are prepared to more forward, the commission can recommend to the Ontario agriculture minister that a farmer vote be held. At that point it would be a commission process, meaning the commission would organize and conduct the vote.

“The decision on the vote hasn’t been made yet but commission staff are working with the proponents and we are in discussions about what needs to be done to more forward,” Hope says.

This group’s proposal is a bit different from other groups that appear before the commission wanting to set up an organization representing farmers because groups already exist for corn, soybean and wheat producers.

Hope says he can’t predict what the nine-member commission will decide at the July meeting. It could decide to okay the process to move toward a vote, request more information or turn the request down.

The meeting will take place the week of July 20. Hope says an exact date hasn’t yet been set.

The information being presented at the July meeting is intended to both help the commission understand what the new group is designed to do and “it forms the basis of the information that would be provided to the people who would be voting,” Hope notes, adding the commission requires that when there’s a vote it’s made clear what farmers are voting on.

The working group’s information includes the goals of the new organization, financial projections, governing structure, such as how many districts there’ll be, the new board’s make up, communications and implementation plans and what is to be included in the package going to voters. “It’s their vote and they have to include a package of information so producers know what they’re voting on but we prepare that,” notes Larry Shapton, general manager of the Ontario Wheat Producers’ Marketing Board.

The vote is the mechanism to determine what support there is for the new organization. “The vote in itself is not the objective,” Hope says. “The vote is a tool.”

The objective is to have effective organizations, he adds. BF