The Rural Voice, 1996-11, Page 52HURON
County Federation of Agriculture NEWSLETTER
Box 429, Clinton, Ontario NOM 1L0
519-482-9642 or 1-800-511-1135
• The Rural Voice is provided to all farmers
in Huron County by the HCFA.
Provincial Auditor's report raises concern
Recommendations contained in
the Provincial Auditor's report
released October 15, 1996 have set
off alarm bells in rural Ontario.
In his annual report to the
legislature, Provincial Auditor Erik
Peters suggested that the Ministry of
Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs
close field offices to save money and
review whether it should continue to
operate agricultural colleges at
Ridgetown, Kemptville and Alfred.
"While the auditor's report for
1995/96 may be a look in the rear
view mirror, farmers are still worried
about some of the recommendations,"
said Ontario Federation of
Agriculture President, Tony Morris.
"Field offices have closed in the past
year and changes have already been
Meetings to discuss new county plan
The Huron Federation is working with the County of Huron to ensure that
agricultural issues are properly dealt with in the New County Plan.
To help accomplish this, three meetings were set up at different times and in
different locations. Farmers and non -farmers were invited to attend these
meetings to help develop policy for the New County Plan.
To date the first two meetings have been held in Belgrave and Goderich
township. Only one meeting remains at Hensall Public School on Monday,
November 25, 1996 at 8:00 p.m. Everyone interested is invited to attend this
final meeting.0
Notice to HCFA
Board of Directors Members:
As you know we did not have an October Board meeting because the
date of it would have been too close to our Annual meeting of October
25. A HCFA Board meeting has been set up for Monday, November 4
at 8:00 p.m. at the County Federation office. Also at this meeting
Convention Delegates will be invited to attend to go over Convention
resolutions. Notices will be sent out for this meeting but due to the
close timing between Annual meeting and November 4 date all
Directors may not receive their notice in time.0
Scholarships presented
This year the Huron Federation presented five scholarships in the
amount of $250 each, one to each of the five high schools in the
county.
These scholarships were awarded to a deserving student, not
necessarily the highest academic student, going on to a college or a
university to further study some form of agriculture.
The recipients this year were: from Goderich District Collegiate
Institute, Sally Anne Mabon; from Central Huron Secondary School,
Clinton, Sandra Lobb; from Seaforth District High School, Ethan
Wallace; from South Huron Secondary High School, Exeter, Dara
Hartman; and from F. E. Madill High School, Wingham, Allan deVos.
The Federation congratulates these young people and wishes them
success in their future endeavors!0
48 THE RURAL VOICE
made to the funding and operation of
agricultural colleges."
"We'll be keeping a close eye on
the new partnership between
OMAFRA and the University of
Guelph to see what that does to
improve services and cut the costs of
program delivery."
At its monthly meeting in Toronto
on October 16, the OFA Board of
Directors discussed the auditor's
report and farmers' concerns about
accessing government services in
rural areas. The Board doesn't want
to see government lever an auditor's
report into a policy priority that
would somehow justify further cuts
in service.
"The agri-food sector is too
important to strip away any more
services," said Morris. "We are a
growing and dynamic industry and
we have to compete in the global
marketplace, particularly with U.S.
farmers who receive far more support
from their government."
The OFA says the province needs
to assess the impacts of previous cuts
before they consider closing more
field offices. Morris urges the
ministry to re -invest in service
delivery to ensure that farmers who
need access to critical information
can access it anywhere in the
provincc.0
HCFA OFFICE
HOURS
Mondays and Fridays
9 a.m. to 42 noon
1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Tuesday, Wednesday,
Thursday
Please leave a message.
(519) 482-9642
1-800-511-1135
FAX (519) 482-1416