The Ontario Federation of Agriculture faced criticism from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Appeal Tribunal which has granted it only provisional accreditation.
The National Farmers Union – Ontario, and the Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario both received accreditation.
As for the OFA, the tribunal wants affidavit evidence about when its audited financial statements became available to the public following its annual meeting.
It also wants an independent auditor to report the total number of supporters.
The OFA has 60 days to provide the information.
Accreditation enables the farm organizations to receive funds when farmers are forced to annually register their business if they want to continue to receive services and subsidies from the provincial government.
Farmers need to name an accredited organization to receive their registration fee; they may apply to that organization for a refund.
The tribunal decision was posted on its website today. It never included its accreditation hearings, which are supposed to be public, on its website listing of upcoming appeals.
