Accreditation denied | With lost revenue, contributions from the National Farmers Union’s largest member will be gutted
The National Farmers Union’s Ontario section has lost its share of provincial farmer check-off money, which it says has dire implications for the national organization.
“Ontario is the largest NFU membership, and we send 50 percent of our funds to national, so it is significant,” said NFU-O president Ann Slater.
“This obviously is a provincial but also a national issue.”
She said it will reduce NFU funding by hundreds of thousands of dollars.
In Ontario, farmers accredited under the Farm Registration and Farm Organizations Funding Act for provincial recognition and tax breaks pay an annual $195 fee and designate which farm group they want to support with their money.
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Last year, all three accredited farm organizations — Ontario Federation of Agriculture, Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario and NFU-O — were told they had to re-apply.
OFA and CFFO were re-accredited, but the NFU was denied status.
The decision was made in December, but reasons for the rejection have yet to be published.
“They haven’t told us officially, but I think their view is that we don’t represent farmers in Ontario,” said Slater.
“We do, and 2,400 directed their check-off to us to indicate they wanted us to represent them.”
She said half of that would be sent to NFU national offices in Saskatoon after deductions and local costs. At more than $200,000, it was a major contributor to the national budget.
During hearings before the provincial Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Appeal Tribunal, Slater argued that NFU-O is the largest member and financial supporter of the traditionally prairie-based NFU.
“Provincially and nationally, without these check-off revenues, we don’t have the financial resources we need to do the work we have to do,” Slater said in a later interview.
“It does mean we have fewer resources and less ability to pay for what we do, so as the NFU, we have to cut corners.”
The NFU-O has appealed to new Ontario Liberal premier and agriculture minister Kathleen Wynne to resolve the issue and publish the reasons for rejection so the NFU can respond.
“Our members are extremely frustrated with the decisions of the tribunal in 2012,” Slater said in a statement when Wynne was sworn in as premier.
“They feel the tribunal has taken away their voice and their option to choose the general farm organization that best represents their interests.”
