As Ontario’s elected representatives prepare to head back to the legislature on Feb. 19, Ontarians look forward to a productive spring session following a four-month hiatus.
Most of the Queen’s Park business that was active throughout 2012 died on the legislative table when the government was prorogued in October 2012. That leaves a clean slate for new business in 2013 – including agriculture.
The Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) looks forward to working with Premier Kathleen Wynne on issues relevant to Ontario farm families.
As the province’s largest accredited general farm organization, the OFA is proud to be the voice of Ontario farm families. The OFA had the opportunity to reach out to Wynne about the four key issues the association is tackling for the coming year.
We received some honest answers from her on each issue, and look forward to continuing that dialogue and further developing Wynne’s relationship with agriculture in the months to come.
On behalf of Ontario agriculture, the four areas of focus OFA will be addressing with Wynne and Liberal party policy makers in the upcoming legislative session include Ontario’s agriculture and food strategy, energy, regulatory modernization and investing in rural Ontario.
OFA representatives have also been meeting with all political parties about OFA’s legislative agenda, and we are pleased to see all three parties embracing OFA’s priorities.
In the coming months, we intend to see that support grow by having a stronger presence at Queen’s Park, and we will introduce some new lobby tools to encourage our grassroots members to take up the torch during constituency days in their own rural communities.
The Ontario agri-food industry contributes $33 billion annually to the Ontario economy and represents 10% of the province’s entire workforce with 700,000 jobs.
The OFA is encouraged that the industry is garnering the support it deserves from our provincial representatives, and we are committed to growing those relationships to enable prosperous and sustainable farms. We congratulate Premier Kathleen Wynne and look forward to getting back to work with the Ontario legislature on the business of agriculture.
Mark Wales is the president of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture
