Deadlines have been extended by the Alberta government as it seeks candidates to sit on the Agriculture Financial Services Corp. and the Agricultural Products Marketing Council.
Applications for AFSC will be accepted until Oct. 17 and those for the marketing council will be accepted until Oct. 21.
Agriculture Minister Oneil Carlier said eight people will be appointed to the AFSC, which is a replacement of the entire board.
All members of the previous board were dismissed in June after an investigation indicated some members had double-dipped on expense claims, accepted gifts and otherwise contravened the corporation’s code of conduct.
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Carlier said the AFSC code of conduct stands and no additional demands or scrutiny will be placed on new members beyond what has been done in the past.
“I know perhaps in the past, the previous administration, after 40 years, they were kind of insiders looking for other insiders, but we’re going to try to be more broad than that, trying to be more transparent and looking for the best possible people that we can.”
A board that reflects Alberta’s diversity will be sought for both organizations, he added.
“(For AFSC), an asset obviously would be a background in finances,” he said.“It’s not hard to find because producers obviously out there are businesspeople as well, so they have a high level of understanding for business practices. That won’t be difficult to find.”
After the previous board was dismissed this spring, the government appointed Ed Knash, vice-president for business and agriculture at ATB Financial, to act as interim chief executive officer. A five-member board of government officials was also put in place. Those people and Knash will be replaced when the new board is chosen.
The department has received numerous applications for positions on both boards, but the deadline was extended in part because harvest may have prevented some would-be applicants from coming forward.
The marketing council currently has three member and is seeking five more people, bringing board strength to eight.
For more information, visit www.alberta.ca/alberta-boards.aspx.
