A group of disgruntled members of the Ontario branch of the
National Farmers Union is organizing a new general farm organization they call
Practical Farmers of Ontario.
Their organizing meeting will be March 31 at Peter Gzowski
College, Trent University, in Peterborough.
The leaders include Sean McGivern, who was elected head of the
Ontario branch of the National Farmers Union, but deposed by the National
Farmers Union executive in Saskatoon.
Two other former NFU directors, Michael Schmidt of raw-milk
fame and Steve Dick are also scheduled to lead discussions at the founding
meeting which will begin at 9 a.m. They are charging $20 per person.
McGivern says the new organization will provide a voice for
farmers whose concerns are not being pursued by any of the existing general
farm organizations that receive funding via the Ontario Farm Business
Registration process – the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, the Christian
Farmers Federation, the Ontario branch of the NFU and an organization for
French-speaking farmers.
For example, they all provide unqualified support for supply
management, but McGivern said there are a number of issues with supply
management that should be open to critical debate.
The organizers of Practical Farmers of Ontario hope they
will be in a position to file for certification under the Farm Business
Registration process by next year.
At the founding meeting, they will be considering a
constitution and bylaws and electing an executive that is to include a
president, vice-presidents for Eastern and Western Ontario, a secretary, a
treasurer and five directors at large.
