The Rural Voice, 2003-05, Page 65{
PERTH )16/k
County Pork Producers NEWSLETTER
Pat Louwagie, President
519-393-6424
• The Rural Voice is provided to Perth
County Pork Producers by the PCPPA.
Are you fulfilling your role as councillor?
Any opinions expressed herein may
not necessarily reflect the views of
the Perth County Pork Producers'
Association.
Do you make a good councillor?
What do you see as your role in this
position? What are some of your
responsibilities, and what are some
ways in which you can fulfill these
responsibilities?
These were some of the questions
which were posed to participants in
one of the education sessions,
"Councillor Training: How to Make
Your Vote Count", held during the
Ontario Pork Industry Forum for the
Future on March 12, 2003 as part of
the Ontario Pork Annual Meeting.
Jim Brown and Mary Lynn
McPherson of "Strive" were the
facilitators for the program. Even
though I have been a councillor for
several terms now, I picked up
several ideas from the program that
changed the way I view my
responsibilities in this position.
The facilitators stated our job as
councillors is to "help the Board by
serving as a communication link to
the grassroots producers — the owners
of the organization". Referring to
producers as "owners" puts into
perspective the responsibility that our
position carries.
The Ontario pork industry is made
New executive elected
At our March meeting, the
councillors elected their executive for
2003. Congratulations to Pat
Louwagie, who was elected president
of the association. Russ Danbrook
holds the first vice-president seat,
Phil Anwender, second vice-
president, Bert Groenestege, treasurer
and Ken Aitcheson continues as
secretary.
We wish to extend our thanks to
Jim Van Nes, our past president. Jim
has been a great chairman for our
county. It has been an interesting post
for him, because as chairman, he has
had to oversee rather than directly
join in the discussions during our
up of some 4000 producers. A
question posed to us was "how can
we best represent these producers."
When we divided the number of
producers by the number of
provincial councillors, which
currently stands at some 200 people,
we calculated that a councillor is
representing approximately 20
producers in the industry. We
reasoned that with some effort, a
councillor could talk to 20 different
producers over a period of time to get
some indication of the needs and
concerns of the industry.
We were challenged to come up
with different methods with which
we could reach out to gather ideas
and opinions from these producers,
especially those outside of our
normal social circle. The participants
in the session came up with an
extensive list of ways, such as simply
making phone contact, using e-mails,
or holding special open meetings, that
we could use to reach out to
producers and their perspective on
the industry. It is easy for us to
gather these ideas from those who we
normally "hang out" with at our local
associations, coffee shops or after
church, but it takes a little more effort
to talk to those who may not
regularly attend industry meetings
and events. Just sitting with people
meetings. If anyone knows Jim, he
has never been afraid to express his
opinion, but he always does so in an
informed and respectful manner. As
past president, we look forward to his
valued input into our discussions.
Well done, Jim.
As well, congratulations go to
Larry Skinner, who was elected chair
of the board of Ontario Pork. Larry's
integrity and leadership skills will
continue to serve the county and the
province well. We thank you, Larry,
for your commitment and your efforts
on our behalf.0
— Submitted by Jim Van Herk
you may not know for lunch when
you are taking an agricultural course
(medicines or pesticide course, for
example) can broaden your contacts
in the industry.
Several other points made during
the session include:
• councillors need to act as a
"conduit" for information flow in
both directions, gathering information
and concerns from the producers
body, our "constituents", and
conveying this information to the
Board, and likewise relaying
information and the rationale behind
Board decisions back to producers;
• other duties include assisting
with policy development and
providing local leadership for
producers;
• we need to be careful to keep our
opinions to ourselves when gathering
information from producers, to avoid
skewing the input — an important
point that we need to keep in mind!
I feel that this type of training for
councillors should become a
permanent part of the education day
of the annual meeting. Examples such
as media training, running an
effective meeting, or communication
training are topics that could help
councillors become more effective in
their position.0
PERTH COUNTY PORK
PRODUCERS'
PORK PRODUCTS
• Smoked Pork Chops
• Fresh Pork Chops
• Stuffed Loin Chops
• Smoked Sausage
• Smoked Cheddar Sausage
• Bacon Burgers
• Teriyaki Pork Steaks
• Vittorio's BBQ Sauce
AVAILABLE FROM:
Steve Hulshof (Kinkora) 348-8167
Walter Bosch (Monkton) 356-9000
Ted Keller (Mitchell) 348-9836
MAY 2003 61