A group of discontented vegetable growers is not happy with
the reform proposals put forward by the Ontario Farm Products Marketing
Commission.
Earlier this year the commission stepped in to dismiss the
directors of the Ontario Processing Vegetable Growers Marketing Board and
Agriculture Minister Jeff Leal appointed Elmer Buchanan to run the board and
handle pricing negotiations with processors for this year’s crop.
Francis Dobblelaar, head of the dissident group calling
itself the Processing Vegetable Growers’ Alliance, is urging growers to make
their concerns known to the commission.
He points to three main concerns with
the proposed regulations:
1. The two-round negotiation process to replace
stalemated negotiations that used to end in final offer arbitration.
2.
Formation of an
industry advisory committee whose members are picked by the commission instead
of being elected by growers.
3.
The alliance also
opposes the creation of negotiating agencies that would see that growers
associated with a particular processor are able to negotiate directly with that
processor.
Dobbelaar said “We need to have our
voices heard, and advocate for the kind of industry that encourages innovation,
collaboration and progress.”
