The president of Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan says the organization’s much-publicized internal troubles are a thing of the past.
“We have put that behind us and we are moving ahead,” president Glenn Blakley said following the organization’s midterm convention in North Battleford.
APAS has been in turmoil the past two months, with the dismissals of the executive director and policy manager, and the resignations of the office manager and another employee.
Also, former president Ken McBride unexpectedly stepped down in May, citing philosophical differences with other board members.
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Blakley downplayed the significance of all that, saying it’s something that every organization goes through at some point.
“I think we’re through it now and we’re getting the pieces in place so we can move forward,” he said.
The issues behind the upheaval were discussed during the convention and members seemed to be comfortable with the situation.
He added that new checks and balances have been introduced to improve the organization’s governance system and internal communications.
The APAS president disputed suggestions by some former employees that they have been hindered from doing their jobs due to inappropriate interference from board members.
“That’s one person’s interpretation, but I don’t believe that was the issue,” he said.
The real issue, Blakley said, was that the board didn’t feel the organization was moving in the direction it needed to go.
“We were getting a lot of feedback from our members that they wanted us to be more visible and to make sure we were actually doing what we said we were doing.”
He acknowledged that the organization has made mistakes, particularly in the area of communicating with members, with the public and with government.
“Maybe we haven’t been listening to the members as well as we should have been.”
APAS is a unique organization in that board members also have to act as employees when it comes time to go out into the country and talk to the membership.
“It will always be a challenge for us to ensure everybody is on the same page and working toward the same goal,” said Blakley.
