ST. JOHN’S, Nfld. – The Canadian Farm Women’s Network is asking its members for a big commitment.
There won’t be any federal government funding for administration of the network after this year, so the CFWN is changing its funding focus, says president Linde Cherry. In an interview at the network’s 7th national conference here, she said the annual membership fee of $5 will likely have to rise to $40.
The group plans to cover a third of its budget through the membership and then raise two-thirds from agribusiness and commodity groups.
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Projects supported
Last year the network had $115,655 to spend. Most of that was federal funding for specific projects on family violence, defining the family farm and developing various position papers. Keeping the network operating and lobbying cost $8,725.
Cherry, a dairy farmer from British Columbia, said the network is “extremely cost efficient.” Over the past year it held several telephone conference calls instead of face-to-face board meetings and it cancelled one of its quarterly newsletters. It also piggybacked other business when lobbying in Ottawa. Next year the network hopes to use the internet to link up with its board members across Canada to save money.
The board also plans to work with a professional fund raiser from the Canadian Women’s Foundation to get more ideas. And it will be trying to reclaim the $2,346.75 it paid in GST.
The network will likely have to tap some government funds for the July 1997 conference of world farm women it is hosting in Guelph, Ont. It had hoped to get a commitment from the federal agriculture minister. However Ralph Goodale did not show up at the conference.
Report to minister
He will be hearing from the network when it finishes a paper next month on defining the family farm.
New Brunswick board member Carolyn VanDine said a survey had been done of the grassroots members about the family farm.
“The federal government would like us to write it down in one paragraph. We’re going to send them back a 200-page document.”
The paper to be released Dec. 1 includes responses about why people farm. VanDine said 86 percent said it is to make a living for themselves and their family versus 73 percent who said to make a profit, and 40 percent who said their main motivation to farm was to feed Canada.
