HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2013-04-04, Page 20PAGE 20. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 4, 2013.
Continued from page 19
such as fishing/paddling, revised
hiking, cycling, Shakespeare to the
Shoreline, the Huron-Perth “Buy
Local Buy Fresh” map and the new
Huron-Perth Garden Touring
brochure.
This business-to-business event is
hosted by the Huron Tourism
Association in partnership with the
County of Huron; the Municipality
of South Huron; and Ontario Lottery
and Gaming (OLG). Many other
businesses also contribute to its
success year- after-year.
The registration fee for the 24th
Annual Tourism Event and
Brochure Swap is $50 for the first
person from a business or
establishment and $30 for each
subsequent person from the same
business or establishment. Final
registration deadline is March 29.
Registration includes the keynote
speaker presentation, one of the
morning tours, a hot buffet lunch,
refreshments and table space for
registrants’ brochures. The public is
welcome to drop in between 1:30
p.m. and 2:30 p.m. and tour the
brochure swap at no charge. To
register for the event please visit
www.ontarioswestcoast.ca or call
519-524-8394 ext.3.
Continued from page 14agriculture and she wasn’t the onlyone. According to Wynne, the “Ag
101” program had people from the
city visit the countryside to get a
better grip on agriculture.
“We did that because we wanted
to make those connections [between
food and agriculture], even on a
small scale,” she said.
However, she still feels that
agriculture doesn’t have the
attention it deserves on the
provincial and national stages.
“What is amazing to me is that an
industry that has nearly 3,000 [food
and beverage businesses]... one-third
of the country’s total businesses...
$34 billion dollars in contribution to
the country’s GDP, 700,000 jobs and
is exporting $10 billion of product
doesn’t have more of a focus on it,”
she said.
“We need more of a general
consciousness of that industry.
That’s the challenge that we’re
facing right now.”
She said that she wants to be part
of the solution to that problem and
that she wants start educating
people.
“I want to... make the challenges
that [the agri-food sector] faces
much clearer and show what we can
be doing together,” she said.
Part of that is her own approach of
finding the common ground between
issues and organizations, she
explained, but part of it is also
working with other industries thateither support or are supported bythe agri-food industry, like horseracing.
Wynne explained that part of
keeping Ontario strong was to work
with organizations like, locally, the
Clinton Raceway, to guarantee a
future.
“I announced that we have
reached tentative transition funding
agreement with Clinton Raceway,”
she said. “That was part of
committing to a stable horse racing
industry in the province and today I
mentioned that we’ve made three
transitional agreements with
Flamborough Downs, Georgian
Downs and Fort Erie. That’s nine
tracks with which we have
transitional agreements.”
She said that signing those
agreements is a good piece of
progress towards having a
sustainable horse racing industry
and that she hopes other agreements
can be signed soon to have the tracks
prepared for the spring season.
“We’ll continue to work with them
with those agreements,” she said.
The agreements, according to
Wynne, reflect a new market-driven
model that was suggested by a panel
consisting of former cabinet
ministers Elmer Buchanan, John
Snobelen and Wilkinson.
“They recommended that a
smaller, but more sustainable
market-driven industry should be
worked on,” she said.
One last issue she addressed waslocal food processors, like abattoirs,which have faced difficult times inthe recent history because of
heightened regulations. She said that
her efforts would include all of the
industry, including this group.
“I explained, when I introduced
the Local Food Act, that this
includes processors,” she said.
“Sometimes when we talk about
agri-food, we talk about farmers but
we don’t talk about processors.
We’re talking about that here.”
Part of the reason for including
processors is to make sure that the
entire sector is able to help direct the
future. This was an important
message for Wynne.
“If we talk to each other and if we
hear each other’s concerns, then we
work better,” she said. “I’ve heard
many times about one window and
how people from across the sector
need to work across industries and
working with 10 different industries
is made much easier if you can work
with one window and have one
approach.”
She concluded her speech by
stating she would work towards
making agri-food a better sector to
work in as a means of growing the
province.
“I am committed to advancing this
sector,” she said. “I understand that
if we’re going to grow this economy,
making sure that this sector
contributes, is healthy and is able to
be sustainable is important.”
Wynne promises to grow agriculture, local food
Annual brochure swap
coming on April 16
Effective Tuesday, Sparling’s
Propane Company Limited has been
purchased by Parkland Fuel
Corporation (TSX:PKI). Sparling’s
is a privately-held family business,
founded by Grant Sparling in Blyth,
Ontario in 1951.
“This is a strategic acquisition that
will see Sparling’s serve as
Parkland’s platform for the
aggressive development of the retail
propane market in Eastern Canada,”
says Steven Sparling, President and
CEO. “The company name, existing
facilities, people and programs will
remain the same. The only
difference will be an accelerated rate
of growth.”
“Sparling’s is a respected industry
leader that has quietly grown into
one of the largest propane retailers
in Canada and one of the 25 largest
in North America,” said Bob Espey,
President and Chief Executive
Officer of Parkland. “Both
companies share a commitment to
growth through service excellence,
and this creates an unprecedented
opportunity for Parkland and
Sparling’s to grow a larger share of
Canada’s propane market.”
Parkland is Canada’s largest
independent marketer and
distributor of fuels and Shell’s
largest branded distributor in North
America. The company is based in
Calgary.
Sparling’s provides full-service
propane supply and guaranteed
service to over 25,000 customers in
southern and central Ontario, and
has twice been named “One of the
50 Best Places to work in Canada.”
For more information, please visit
www.sparlings.com. Details of the
transaction will not be released.
Sparling’s bought by
Parkland Fuel Corp.
Hold up
Mayor Jim Ginn, whose municipality of Central Huron
played host to Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne last week
for a discussion about the agri-food sector, tried to calm
down and talk to anti-wind energy protestors outside of the
Regional Equine and Agricultural Centre of Huron where
Wynne was speaking. Ginn was trying to set up a meeting
between representatives of the protestors and Wynne, but
wasn’t being welcomed by the group. (Denny Scott photo)stronger together...
• Kuhn Knight Reel Auggie
Mixer
• Kuhn Centre Pivot Disc
Mower Conditioner
• Kuhn VBZ160 Baler
• Kuhn MM300 Merger
• Kuhn Krause 5635 Cultivator
• Kuhn Krause Excelerator
** Quick 15 minute key point
discussion on each piece**
Other Kuhn equipment spreaders, rakes,
strip till and discs will be on display
Thursday, April 11, 2013
1:00pm - 3:30pm
on site at McGavin Farm Equipment Ltd.
83145 Brussels Line, Walton, ON (Bobcat Location)
moving forward together...
KUHN PRODUCT INFORMATION DAY!KUHN PRODUCT INFORMATION DAY!
519-887-6365519-887-6365
Come see Come see
us at us at
McGAVIN’S