Manitoba Agriculture staff employees won assurance last week that their jobs are not on the chopping block as a review of the department unfolds.
Agriculture minister Rosann Wowchuk confirmed at an April 30 meeting in Brandon that she was not there to hand out pink slips, but was instead interested in ideas about how the department could better serve its clients.
The meeting included about 580 employees from Manitoba Agriculture, Manitoba Agricultural Credit Corp., Manitoba Crop Insurance and the food development centre in Portage la Prairie.
“It’s time to review how we deliver services,” said Wowchuk. “That’s what this is really all about. How can we better serve the clients who come to our doorsteps?”
Read Also
Agriculture ministers agree to AgriStability changes
federal government proposed several months ago to increase the compensation rate from 80 to 90 per cent and double the maximum payment from $3 million to $6 million
The minister acknowledged that the review had caused anxiety for many people within her department. During the Brandon meeting, she gave assurances that the intention was not to duplicate what happened in Saskatchewan, where the government announced in its March 31 budget that it was closing 22 agriculture extension offices and laying off 119 employees.
The Brandon meeting was used as a workshop to discuss how the services provided by Manitoba Agriculture and other agencies under Wowchuk’s cabinet portfolio can be changed to help tap agriculture and rural opportunities.
Some of the themes that emerged from the Brandon meeting were the importance of rural communities, the need to encourage value-added enterprises and changes affecting agriculture and rural communities. As an example, it was noted that global warming could mean an opportunity to grow crops that currently do not suit the province’s growing season.
“We always have to think about the people we serve,” Wowchuk said. “If we’re not thinking about the people we serve, then we’re not really doing our jobs.”
Shane Dobson, a provincial agricultural representative at Melita, Man., was encouraged by what he heard at the meeting. He said any good organization needs to review its services to keep in step with the times.
“I’m happy because I think we heard there’s a commitment to rural Manitoba…. This is an opportunity to look at ourselves and see how we can meet the different needs that are out there.”
The review will continue through the spring, with input also gathered from farmers, said Wowchuk. She hopes to have a better idea by summer what kinds of changes might be warranted for her department.
Bioproducts united under one banner
By Sean Pratt
Saskatoon newsroom
news
Ag-West Biotech Inc. has dropped four letters from its name, lost $200,000 from its budget and added two other economic development agencies to its fold.
Bio-Products Saskatchewan Inc. and the Saskatchewan Nutraceutical Network have teamed up with the biotech firm to form a company called Ag-West Bio Inc.
While Ag-West Biotech primarily invested in companies focused on improving crop genetics, the new entity will fund projects in the growing bioproducts industry, where crops are converted into industrial products like fuel, cosmetics and drugs.
But it is going to have to do so on a restricted budget.
The Saskatchewan government has committed $900,000 a year over the next three years to Ag-West Bio. That is $200,000 a year less than Ag-West Biotech had been receiving from the province.
Saskatchewan agriculture minister Mark Wartman said the decision had nothing to do with the company.
“It’s just simply a budget reality that we had to drop it, certainly not any great desire on our part to reduce funding.”
He said the government’s primary objective is to avoid deficit financing, which means difficult cuts had to be made.
“I’ll tell you, if we had more (money) we’d love to put it there.”
Wartman said the reduction in government financing should not be interpreted as the province turning its back on the biotech industry.
“There’s no indication that I have anywhere in my discussions that we’re backing away.”
Industry reaction to the merger of the three agricultural economic development agencies has been mixed.
Timely change
Al Scholz, executive director of Saskatchewan Agrivision Corp. Inc., said the shift in direction from establishing a biotech research park to promoting other segments like the emerging bioproducts industry is timely.
“There has been a tremendous focus in improving crops and products that are food related, but there has been very little emphasis put on bioproducts,” he said.
Companies in the United States have created dozens of fractionated products out of crops like corn and peanuts.
He thinks it’s time farmers here followed that lead by creating new uses for western Canadian crops.
“We’ve got the climate and the genetic gene pool to get into a whole range of the non-food (applications.)”
Scholz also felt it made sense to incorporate the small Saskatchewan Nutraceutical Network into a more powerful organization that can fund projects.
National Farmers Union president Terry Boehm strongly disagreed.
“I would be very nervous if the nutraceutical network started to promote the kinds of policies Ag West Biotech is known for.”
That includes what he considers a number of anti-farmer policies.
“They’ve been tirelessly promoting enhanced protections for the seed sector and for biotech at huge expense to farmers.”
Boehm would like to see government funding for the agency completely dry up because, despite the name change, he expects to see a similar policy stance coming out of Ag-West Bio.
“It’s a bit premature to tell, but I would suspect that the biotech orientation will still be strong.”
Scholz was disappointed with the shrinking financial commitment from the province.
While he understands it’s due to the “perennial problem” of Saskatchewan’s small taxpayer base, it could have serious consequences for the reborn agency.
“What suffers when you have a decline in public sector funding is that basic core research, which is really the foundation for innovation.”
