Membership decline | Deficit of $80,000 expected despite a spending decrease
The Canadian Federation of Agriculture, facing the loss of four members and more than $130,000 in membership dues, is projecting a 2013 budget deficit of more than $80,000.
During the past year, the Canadian Pork Council, the Canadian Wheat Board, the Canadian Horticultural Council and Pioneer Hi-Bred pulled out of the organization.
In 2013, CFA proposes to spend $1.278 million, a 7.3 percent decrease.
Although CFA leaders were sensitive about news reports that some members, mainly the CPC, have pulled out in a dispute over policy and trade priorities, executive director Brigid Rivoire told the annual meeting Feb. 26 that finding new members and talking to those who have left must be a priority.
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“The loss of any members only weakens the voice of the CFA,” she said.
Errol Halkai, acting executive director last year while Rivoire was on medical leave, told delegates in his report that “one of the more concerning issues” in 2012 for the organization was “membership retention.”
In addition to members that left, the Alberta-based Canadian Sugar Beet Producer Association said it would pull out but then changed its mind in January and remained a member.
“These incidents underline the need for the CFA to demonstrate value to its membership and need for a concrete action plan for membership retention and expansion,” he wrote in the annual report to the convention in Ottawa.
