The Rural Voice, 1989-02, Page 52GREY
44610th St., Hanover, Ontario N4N 1 P9
519-364-3050
• The Rural Voice is provided to all Grey
County Farmers by the GCFA.
County Federation of Agriculture NEWSLETTER
"RIGHT -TO -FARM"
The following is the text of a
submission on the Farm Practices
Protection Act made to the hearing of
the Legislative Committee at Queen's
Park by the Grey County Federation
of Agriculture:
We were pleased when the
Minister announced the introduction
of this Bill last December, and have
studied and discussed its details. We
are in agreement with the opinions
expressed by the Ontario Federation
of Agriculture, but wish to put forward
the concerns expressed by Grey
County farmers.
We are well acquainted with the
provisions under this Bill and the
proposed protocol of understanding
between the Ministries of the Environ-
ment and Agriculture and Food,
outlining procedures to be followed
in administering this Bill.
Our first concern is that the details
necessary for the effective administra-
tion of the legislation are not con-
tained in the Bill, but in the protocol.
We believe the Bill should include
sufficient detail, so it can stand on its
own two feet, so to speak.
We express this concern because,
although the Bill provides permanency
through a Legislative Act, the protocol
is subject to alterations by subsequent
Ministries and their staffs, without
recourse to Legislative or public input.
We are particularly concerned
that this Bill ignores a fundamental
principle of justice that should provide
all parties to a dispute equal access to
the body that will sit in judgement. In
the case of this Bill, the proposed
administrative procedures provide
opportunities for the MOE not to act
on behalf of a complainant before he
gains access to the Farm Practices
Protection Board; meanwhile, the
defendant to any complaint has no
access at all. We would not like to see
a complainant discouraged from using
this procedure and, instead, by-passing
the opportunities provided by this Bill
by resorting directly to the courts over
nuisance claims.
50 THE RURAL VOICE
Our final concern is that the scope
of the Act is too restrictive and only
applies to occurrences within the
mandate of MOE, and is powerless to
protect farm practices that are alleged
to be in violation of municipal by-laws
beyond their area of responsibility.
When recent cases of alleged by-
law violations were reviewed in regard
to the proposed Bill, it became appar-
ent that the legislation would fail to
protect their normal farming practices.
We are pleased to have this oppor-
tunity to bring forward our concerns
for your consideration.
Respectfully submitted,
Grey County
Federation of Agriculture,
Lorne Eccles, President
Clay Schwegler, Director
Bill 83, the Farm Practices
Protection Act, received final reading
on December 15, 1988; unfortunately
many of our concerns were not
recognized. Time will tell whether
this Bill performs as intended or fails
as miserably as the former Line
Fences Act. We'll be watching!
CHANGES IN QUOTA
SYSTEMS PROPOSED
The Ontario Agricultural Council,
at the request of the agriculture
minister, Jack Riddell, has prepared a
proposal for reform of the quota
system for commodities managed by
marketing boards.
This was initiated because of in-
creasing concern over the price of
quota, which discourages entry into
these commodities.
The Council's lengthy recommen-
dations are based on a Quota Leasing
proposal with flexible leasing terms of
1 to 20 years. The scheme would
eliminate the speculative or "invest-
ment component" of the present quota
prices, so in future the cost of leased
quota would only reflect its production
value.
The OFA will continue to monitor
this proposal and will feature this
subject in an upcoming "Members'
Digest" article.
PESTICIDE REGULATIONS
TO BE REVIEWED
A review of the Pesticide Regis-
tration System was announced on the
14th of December, 1988, by Federal
Minister of Agriculture Don
Mazankowski. The review committee
is expected to include representation
from farm groups, pesticide formula-
tors, and special environmental
interest groups as well as federal
government personnel.
This committee must face two
opposing views. The agricultural
sector believes the present regulations
prevent the use of substances in
Canada that are freely available to
farmers in other countries, particularly
in the U.S., giving them a competitive
edge, whereas the opposing view is
that the regulatory process is not strict
enough to prevent the use of environ-
mentally damaging substances.
The Canadian Federation of
Agriculture has asked the Minister for
a detailed description of the commit-
tee's mandate, suggested a list of
issues that should be included, and
recommended the names of two
agricultural experts as committee
members. It will be necessary for us
to watch this issue closely, as its
outcome will affect the availability
and price of crop protection material.
GREY COUNTY
FEDERATION COMMITTEES
Lorne Eccles, recently elected
president of the Grey County Federa-
tion of Agriculture, promises more
committee action for the Grey County
federation.
Two priorities singled out for
action are a land severance policy by
the Properties Committee, chaired by
Allan Kinney, and a waste manage-
ment policy by the new Environment
Committee, chaired by Clay
Schwegler. Look for further details
in future newsletters.0
Clay Schwegler
519-924-2770