STE. FOY, Que. – Quebec’s farm women’s group has just celebrated 10 years of existence, but is not sure it will be around for another decade.
As with farm women’s groups everywhere, money is the problem. There is a clock ticking over the Federation des Agricultrices du Quebec, says its president Diane Montour.
The group has funding for 15 years from the provincial farmers federation, the UPA. The women farmers have a $200,000 budget with half from the UPA, a quarter from the federal and provincial governments and the final quarter from agribusiness.
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But after 2001 the UPA money will not be there. And the governments have already signalled their funds won’t be coming next year, except for small projects.
Montour said the UPA has a policy to help its affiliated commodity and specialized groups for 10 years only. Then they are expected to stand on their own. The women farmers got an extra five years from the larger federation, but that will be it.
UPA president Laurent Pellerin said in an interview the 15-year transition funding “was a necessary step to involve women in UPA’s structure. … After that, we will see. We hope they can manage their finances.”
Pellerin said of UPA’s 37 affiliated bodies, eight are chaired by women and there is one woman among the seven members of its executive board. The group does not have a quota to ensure that women occupy half of all the elected positions but Pellerin expects in future there will certainly be more women.
At last December’s UPA meeting, a motion was presented, but lost, that would have given the women’s group a portion of the $200 compulsory fee that each Quebec farmer must pay to belong. The women farmers now pay a voluntary fee to belong to their own group. Montour said 1,300 joined from the 22,260 women farmers in Quebec. When asked if the agricultrices federation would consider imposing a compulsory membership and fee, she said the group has thought about this solution but has taken no action yet. To get such a levy would require a vote of approval by a majority of the women, according to Quebec law.
Montour, a U-pick berry farmer from Trois Rivieres, said the women farmers group has had some impact beyond its membership. One of its campaigns was to encourage all women to get their name on the title of their farmland. About 11,000 of them now do. And one of their newest projects is a talent bank of women farmers who can be called upon to serve on committees for the government and the agriculture industry.
