SASKATOON – With most of its money-granting powers removed under the 1995 federal budget, Agriculture Canada’s Farm Women’s Bureau has been asking its constituents for a new role.
Federal agriculture minister Ralph Goodale met last month with leaders of farm women’s groups to discuss the bureau, said Agriculture Canada official Heather Lingley. She told the recent meeting of the Saskatchewan Women’s Agricultural Network that talks are taking place until mid-February. Then the bureau will give the minister a report recommending its future role.
Lingley said three main themes have arisen:
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- Women want more information on agricultural policies, funding sources and use of the internet, a worldwide computer network.
- They want to see more women on agencies, boards and commissions. Goodale has asked Manitoba MP Marlene Cowling to develop a talent bank listing farm women who would be willing to sit on boards.
- The bureau should provide support for farm women and their groups to research and write position papers on various agriculture issues.
In an interview, Linde Cherry, president of the Canadian Farm Women’s Network, said while the bureau may disappear because of government cuts, “I think there is a need for them.”
She said the network believes the bureau should serve as “the catalyst for farm women to get to the minister and to contact other areas of the department and other areas of the government … putting us in touch with the right people.”
The bureau could assist that lobbying if it set up a resource centre, Cherry said.
The resource concept is also supported by the Federated Women’s Institutes of Canada, said president Charlotte Johnson.
