Thursday, November 27, 2014

Wynne chooses two for Growth Steering Committee


Premier Kathleen Wynne has chosen Amy Cronin, chairman of the Ontario Pork marketing board, and Dr. Deb Stark, deputy of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs for her Growth Steering Committee.

The committee faces the daunting task of making good on Wynne’s vision to double the agriculture industry’s growth rate and add 120,000 jobs.

Wynne was her own agriculture minister when she set that goal last year. Now Jeff Leal is her agriculture minister, adding that to his previous responsibilities as cabinet member for rural affairs.

When Wynne announced her growth goal last year, many thought it was to double agricultural production. Now it’s clear that the goal is doubling the growth rate.

Just after Wynne’s announcement last year, Kellogg’s announced closure of its plant at London, Ont., and Heinz announced closure of its ketchup-processing plant at Leamington.

Wynne said by way of a news release that Cronin and Stark will “bring together industry and government leaders and experts to identify opportunities to help the industry meet the Growth Challenge.”