Armed with a $5.6 million consultation budget, Agriculture Canada is
going on the road again, this time looking for opinions on future farm
policy.
Representatives of various sectors will be invited to workshops dealing
with the future of their individual sectors. Meetings are planned on as
many as 14 sectors, including grain and oilseeds, red meat, dairy,
poultry, pulse crops and organics.
Agriculture Canada communications director Janice Vansickle said there
will be as many as 52 workshops organized in late March and April.
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Farmers, food industry officials, consumers and others with a stake in
the evolving farm policy will be invited to the appropriate workshop,
she said. Others who want to express an opinion will be able to do so
through the internet or by mailing a questionnaire.
“We’re talking about a fairly fundamental transformation of agriculture
policy,” Vansickle said.
“This is a way to get feedback.”
She said this spring’s cross-country effort will be the first of a
series. She predicted other “waves” of consultation once progress is
made in federal-provincial negotiations.
The consultation budget has been allocated to fund the effort through
March 31, 2003.
Agriculture minister Lyle Vanclief decided in February to organize a
consultation with industry after criticism that the government was
trying to push through negotiations with provincial ministers without
sufficiently involving farmers.
Vansickle said officials will prepare reports on the workshop results
for agriculture ministers when they meet in Halifax in June. There may
also be an early May ministers’ meeting.
She said details of the consultation agenda could be available the week
of March 18.
