OFA president and Bruce/Grey incumbent face zone elections

Thursday, July 14, 2016

by SUSAN MANN

Two incumbent directors on the Ontario Federation of Agriculture board, including president Don McCabe, are facing elections this year.

Crispin Colvin is running for the director’s spot in Zone 6 (Lambton/Middlesex), as is McCabe.

In Zone 2 (Bruce/Grey), incumbent Paul Wettlaufer is facing Pat Jilesen, who is currently a director at large on the board.

Directors were acclaimed in the other three zones with elections this year. They are: incumbent Larry Davis in Zone 3 (Brant/Haldimand/Norfolk), incumbent Drew Spoelstra in Zone 5 (Hamilton/Wentworth/Niagara North/Niagara South) and Steven Brackenridge in Zone 10 (Durham/Peterborough/Kawartha Lakes/Haliburton). Brackenridge will replace director Bruce Webster, who decided not to run again.

All directors take their positions after the federation’s annual meeting in November.

For the election in zones 2 and 6, the federation will mail ballots to all members in the zones holding membership early next month, says general manager Neil Currie.

There are about 2,500 members in zones 2 and 6.

Voting begins Aug. 15 and concludes at 4:30 p.m. on Sept. 9. Voters can submit completed ballots by mail or by phone using a person PIN number that will be included in the letter sent to them. Each member will be given a unique PIN number.

If there’s a mail strike, Currie says the federation is looking at other options to distribute the ballots. “We can extend the voting period,” he notes.

If there isn’t a mail strike and voting concludes Sept. 9 the results will be announced a week later, Currie says. BF