Ann Slater, president of the Ontario branch of the National Farmers Union, has a letter to the editor of Ontario Farmer whining about the failure to gain accreditation as a general farm organization.
She claims it's because the National Farmers Union is fearless in "speaking to power" such as big governments and companies.
But she has not seen the written decision of the Ontario Agriculture Food and Rural Affairs Tribunal because it has not yet been released. It's probably not even in final draft form yet.
I sat through hours of public hearings the tribunal held on applications by the Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario, the Ontario Federation of Agriculture and the Ontario Branch of the National Farmers Union.
That included a hearing last summer during which former directors of the NFU-Ontario testified that the Ontario branch is little more than a puppet of the National Farmers Union with its head office in Saskatoon.
And the relationships between the Ontario and national NFU were clearly the focus of the tribunal's subsequent hearings.
Slater and the Ontario Council (board of directors) for the NFU tried valiantly to persuade the tribunal that there is a lot more distance between the two organizations today.
But it would seem that it's still not enough.
The tribunal has never, ever, questioned the NFU's policy stands. Slater's claim to "speak against power" is a red herring in terms of accreditation, and I think she knows it.
But, as she outlined in her letter to the editor, staunch supporters of the NFU can still register, sending their $195 plus HST to either the OFA or the CFFO, applying to them for a refund and directing the refund to the NFU.
A hassle, no doubt, but effective.
So, Ann, would you like some cheese with that whine?
And they can "stand against power" as much as they like.
