The Rural Voice, 2003-05, Page 64w
GREY
County Federation of Agriculture NEWSLETTER
446 10th St., Hanover, Ontario N4N 1P9
Email: grey@ ofa.on.ca Website: www.ofa.on.ca/grey
519-364-3050 or 1-800-275-9551
• The Rural Voice is provided to all Grey
County Farmers by the GCFA.
Meeting the minister — OFA has input into government polices
By Geri Kamenz
Ontario Federation of Agriculture
Vice -President
Sometimes there is criticism around
the province for how the Ontario
Federation of Agriculture supports
initiatives of the Ontario Ministry of
Agriculture and Food — most recently
around the nutrient management topic.
Fanners have been heard saying the
OFA is getting too close to OMAF and
its policies, and in essence selling out
the interests of farmers. Nothing could
be further from the truth.
OMAF Minister Helen Johns has
proven to be a very approachable
minister, willing to listen to, work
with, and communicate with OFA and
its leaders on an ongoing basis.
Without that, farmers would always
face a challenge to be heard in the
minister's office.
Minister Johns wanted to speak to
OFA's directors at their March board
meeting, and when scheduling became
a problem, she asked that the meeting
take place at 8:15 a.m. For farmers
that's not very early, but in terms of
government officials, OFA was
impressed enough with their desire to
meet them that directors were there on
time and anxious to hear what she had
to say.
She talked about how the nutrient
management legislation process has
developed and the fact cabinet would
be reviewing the latest version of
proposed regulations. Minister Johns
was also very candid about the
negotiations with the federal
government to get the Agricultural
Policy Framework in place and the
possible consequences of missing the
April 1 deadline set by Agriculture and
Agri -Food Canada.
During a question and answer
Grey County Federation of Agriculture
DIRECTORS' MEETING
Thursday, May 22 - 8:00 p.m.
Grey County Agricultural Services Centre
meeting room (Grey Gables)
206 Toronto Street South, Markdale
Members are welcome to attend
i0 THE RURAL VOICE
period, Minister Johns tackled a wide
range of questions and comments from
the directors. When one director said
the nutrient management regulations
would force a lot of smaller farmers to
sell everything and get out of business,
the minister challenged him.
According to Minister Johns,
without the legislation and its
regulations. those small farmers would
be even more at risk because of the
patchwork of municipal bylaws aimed
at dealing with local environment
issues.
The minister also advised the
questioner that many issues confront
today's farming community and
nutrient management is but one of
those. The minister committed herself
to work with farmers on all of these
issues.
On a number of occasions during
the Minister's presentation to the OFA
board of directors, speakers coming up
with questions also offered praise to
the minister for her apparent desire to
do the right things for Ontario
agriculture. When Minister Johns
completed her comments and was
leaving the meeting room, she was
given a standing ovation as an
expression of appreciation for her
willingness to continue to fight for
Ontario agriculture.
The OFA relationship with all
Ontario MPPs continues to be very
positive and productive.
This good working relationship has
allowed OFA to make considerable
progress on a host of issues —
everything from property assessment
and taxation to energy costs and
environmental issues. Without such a
relationship, OFA could expect to find
open doors when it has to take issues
to Queen's Park.
OFA recognizes the value of a co-
operative approach to working with
government and feels it is doing the
right things for Ontario farmers,
regardless of the size or type of
farming operation they have.0
Water -taking rules need to be changed
Water is big business in Ontario. In Grey County alone the MOE has issued permits
allowing the extraction of six million litres of water per day.
Water resources are vital to our environmental and ultimately sustain all plant, animal and
human life. Surface water provides reliable drinking water and habitat for fish, birds and
wildlife. In parts of Ontario, ground water sustains ecosystems by releasing a constant supply
of water into wetlands and by regularly contributing up to 20 per cent of the flow to headwater
streams. The major impacts of heavy extraction from water bodies are:
is habitat destruction, lost or drained wetlands
ii: extraction of water from an aquifer or small surface water body can cause siltation and
elevated turbidity which can cause the water to be undrinkable.
iii: reduced diluent capacity, diminished water quantity can have negative impacts on the
quality of water particularly when contaminants are present
iv: drought -commercial water taking can cause severe water shortages in dry periods.
There are several concerns as to the process by which water -taking permits are issued.
The public needs to be notified through the news media of any new water -taking applications
or request for increases. Many residents don't have intemet and some of those may not have
the MOE on their list of favourites.
Each of the municipalities from which the water is being taken should have imput into the
licensing procedure. The present permit process does not take into account municipal
planning needs or conservation authority watershed plans. Accurate and timely information
needs to be available. This information should include aquifer mapping, groundwater studies,
a monitoring network and a low water response plan to restrict and manage the water taking
at the local level during extreme conditions.
In Ontario we have been very fortunate to have an abundance of clean fresh water. We
must ensure that this important resource is protected and managed for the benefit of present
and future generations.0 — Submitted by Edith Tyson, Collingwood Township