Ontario Federation of Agriculture President Bette Jean Crews announced this morning she won’t seek re-election to the president’s position in November, citing a need to concentrate her efforts on her family farm. Here’s the text of the message she sent to, among others, agricultural media in Ontario:
Dear friends and colleagues,
By way of this message, I am informing you that I will not be seeking re-election as OFA president.
I am returning to a more active role in the operation of our family farm business. I am announcing this now, because I want to be fair to OFA members who may be considering putting their name forward for an executive position at the OFA AGM November 21-22, 2011.
I will complete my term as President with the same commitment and energy as I have given since first elected in 2009. I am proud of the OFA’s accomplishments during the terms in which I have had the privilege and trust to be your President.
For me, there have been many highlights. In this past year alone we have accomplished the Risk Management Program and the united voice of OASC. The National Food Strategy, a proposal initiated by OFA, was presented to Federal and Provincial Ag Ministers. A new market-value based schedule for wildlife damage to livestock. A cervid management plan was created that enables farmer control of problem elk and an elk hunt this fall. Farmers realized a three-year exemption under bobolink preservation regulations and a joint industry-government committee to design protection policy that will work for agriculture. And finally, OFA’s role in the Open for Business consultation has already reduced regulations by nearly 30 per cent and put a new process in place for regulation development, interpretation and enforcement.
All of this, and more, demonstrates the farm community’s ability to work together. It shows how we can achieve success when we take an active role in designing solutions. Well-articulated, well-defended positions supported by a unified sector can bring results.
I have enjoyed my years of service to the Ontario farm community as part of the OFA Executive committee for the past 11 years. I have the immense privilege of meeting hundreds of hard working Ontario farmers and their families. That is the real joy of the work and memories that I will always treasure. I have also had the privilege of working with OFA general manager Neil Currie and his staff members who are outstanding and a credit to OFA. Thank you all.
I will continue to serve the farmers of Ontario on the OFA Board as Zone Director for Northumberland, Hastings, Prince Edward and Lennox and Addington counties. When elections are held this year I will be past president, and in that portfolio I intend to use the experience of the past 11 years to further advance the issues affecting Ontario agriculture.
Thank you to Ontario farmers for the years of confidence and support.
Bette Jean Crews,
President and Zone 12 Director
I believe the OFA, under the leadership of Ms. Crews, made a strategic error by joining the GEA alliance which might permanently reduce the political influence of the OFA on the political arena. Farmers even in the most rural of ridings are now a minority. This is due to a cheap food policy over the last 50 years which has encouraged larger farms and fewer farmers. To elect MPP’s in rural ridings that are OFA policy friendly, a coalition of farm and nonfarm voters is now nessecary. In the past this was a relatively easy task, most nonfarm residents are relatives or friends of farmers, understand agriculture issues and have common cause with farmer concerns. However the Green Energy Act’s industrial wind turbine policy has blown this coalition apart. Farmers, even families are badly split on the wind turbine issue while non farm residents are shocked and angry at a government that has taken away local decision making and given it to faceless bureaucrats from Toronto. In the last provincial election the OFA’s support of the the GEA meant it supported Liberal candidates by default. Without the farmer/nonfarmer coalition almost every rural Liberal candidate in Ontario lost. What does this mean for the OFA? Well for one no political party can rely too heavily on OFA support to win rural ridings anymore. This means that the nessecary and valuable agriculture advice that the OFA can give may no longer be heeded by government decision makers and bureaucrats. This bodes badly for the future of agriculture in Ontario. In the upcoming OFA election the membership will have to carefuly decide if the percieved benefits of the GEA outweigh the rural division and loss of political influence that accompany it.
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