National Farmer’s Union – Ontario (NFU-O) Respond to Tribunal Decision
Posted: May 10, 2013
Categories: Food in the News / News from Sustain Ontario / Nouvelles
The National Farmer’s Union – Ontario (NFU-O) recently issued a press release refuting their denial of accreditation as a General Farm Organization following a ruling by Ontario’s Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Tribunal in late 2012. On April 15th, 2013 the Tribunal delivered their rationale for the decision stating that “the Tribunal finds that it is the NFU and not the NFU-O that represents farmers in the province. The NFU-O carries out very few activities on its own and is essentially a legal conduit through which the NFU accesses stable funding under the Act.”
One of the consequences of the ruling is that Ontario farms now have only two avenues for receiving a farm business registration (FBR) designation: joining the Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario (CFFO) or the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA). Farms without an FBR number are ineligible for provincial funding and subsidies and are thus severely restricted in their operations. This decision also leaves the approximately 2400 members of the NFU-O without a reliable source of funding from the provincial government – at least in 2013. Nonetheless, the NFU-O is committed to continuing to advocate on its members’ behalf and have decided not to dissolve their organization.
Click here to access the full press release.