Submitter:

Name:Owen Ambur

Email:Owen.Ambur@verizon.net

Organization:

Name:Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs

Acronym:OMAFRA

Stakeholder(s):

• Ontario Government: The ministry's vision supports the Ontario government's agenda of strengthening our economy, fostering rural development, ensuring a reliable energy supply, protecting our shared environment, fostering better health and serving the public interest.


• Agencies, Boards and Commissions (ABCs): To better serve the agri-food industry, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs relies on 12 agencies, boards and commissions. Some, such as the Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Appeal Tribunal, have an adjudicative role. Others are operational service or enterprise agencies. Agricorp, for example, administers production insurance programs to provide farmers with protection against natural hazards and delivers income stabilization payments. The Ontario Farm Products Marketing Commission is a regulatory agency which supervises the province's 20 marketing boards and four representative commodity associations. The following is a complete list of agencies, boards and commissions for which the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs is responsible. Only those entities with assets, liabilities, revenues or expenses greater than $50 million, or an annual surplus or deficit or outside revenue source of greater than $10 million, are consolidated in the ministry's results-based plan.


• Agricorp: (Operational Enterprise) Agricorp is an Ontario government agency created in 1997 with the mandate of delivering crop insurance and other agricultural business risk management (BRM) programs. The two key programs currently delivered by Agricorp are: AgriStability, to protect producers against declines in margin; and Production Insurance, to protect crop producers from losses caused by adverse weather and other natural perils. Agricorp also delivers the Risk Management Program, the Farm Business Registration (FBR) program and the Grain Financial Protection Program (GFPP) on behalf of the province.


• Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Appeal Tribunal: (Adjudicative Agency) The role of the Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Appeal Tribunal is to provide citizens one place to file their appeals on agricultural issues and have them heard by an impartial and knowledgeable tribunal. The Tribunal hears applications and appeals made under approximately 19 statutes including the Drainage Act, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Act (for appeals of decisions made under the Milk Act, and the Farm Products Marketing Act), the Crop Insurance Act, the Assessment Act, the Farm Implements Act, and the Food Safety and Quality Act. Most Tribunal members also serve on the Board of Negotiation (BON) established under the Environmental Protection Act.


• Agricultural Research Institute of Ontario (ARIO): (Operational Service) The primary role of ARIO is to provide strategic advice to the minister regarding research priorities and resource allocation in order to deliver high quality agriculture, food and rural research. This advice is integral to the ministry's decision-making process to determine where to allocate research funding. In addition, in 2007, ownership and management of the province's agri-food research infrastructure (14 provincial research stations and three agricultural colleges), critical to the future success of Ontario's agri-food and rural sectors and a key component of overall provincial economic growth, was transferred from the government to ARIO.


• Board of Negotiation: (Adjudicative Agency) The role of the Board of Negotiation is to negotiate a fair settlement of a claim where a contaminant is causing or has caused injury or damage to livestock or to crops, trees or other vegetation. (Consolidated into the Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Appeal Tribunal as of December 1999).


• Boards Under the Farm Products Payments Act: Under the Farm Products Payments Act, funds and boards are established to: protect producers from non-payment by dealers; investigate claims; grant or refuse payment of claims; and determine the amounts and manner of payment. Boards administering funds under the Farm Products Payment Act are the Grain Financial Protection Board and Livestock Financial Protection Board. Both boards under this Act are "trust agencies."


• Grain Financial Protection Board: (Trust Agency). This board collects fees and administers The Fund for Grain Corn Producers, The Fund for Soybean Producers, and The Fund for Canola Producers and the Fund for Wheat Producers. It approves claims made under the Grain Financial Protection Program, to protect producers of grain corn, canola, soybeans and wheat in the event of default on payment by a licensed buyer.


• Livestock Financial Protection Board: (Trust Agency). This board collects fees, administers The Fund for Livestock Producers and reviews claims made against it under the Ontario Beef Cattle Financial Protection Program, to protect producers and other sellers of beef cattle in the event of default on payment by a licensed buyer.


• Livestock Medicines Advisory Committee: (Advisory Agency) This committee reviews all legislation and regulations pertaining to livestock medicines; inquires into and reports to the Minister on any matter referred to the committee by the Minister; advises the Minister on matters relating to the control and regulation of livestock medicines; evaluates and recommends procedures relating to the sale of livestock medicines and proper standards for maintenance, handling and storage of livestock medicines; and makes recommendations with respect to the description of drugs, or classes of drugs, as livestock medicines and the designation of livestock medicines for sale under a licence or any class of licence.


• Normal Farm Practices Protection Board: (Adjudicative Agency) The Normal Farm Practices Protection Board hears appeals which arise under the Farming and Food Production Protection Act, 1998. The Act protects 'normal farm practices' from nuisance complaints and municipal bylaws.


• : (Regulatory Agency) The Commission supervises Ontario's 20 marketing boards and four representative commodity associations created under the Farm Products Marketing Act and the Milk Act; develops, recommends and implements policy with respect to regulated marketing in Ontario in consultation with the Minister; provides education programs to Ontario's marketing boards and industry stakeholders to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the regulated marketing system; and provides leadership to marketing boards and representative associations. The Commission is also responsible for the enactment of milk and milk product quality regulations under the Milk Act which are then enforced by the director named under the Milk Act.


• Ontario Food Terminal Board: (Operational Enterprise) The Ontario Food Terminal is the largest wholesale fruit and produce distribution center in Canada. It was established in 1954 to provide a convenient, efficient and low cost receiving and shipping facility for wholesalers of fruit and produce, and now serves all of Eastern Canada and some of the Northern States. All operational aspects of the Ontario Food Terminal are overseen by the Ontario Food Terminal Board. The Board, consisting of seven members, acts like a landlord for the Terminal. Its mandate is to acquire, construct, equip and operate a wholesale fruit and produce market. The Ontario Food Terminal consists of warehouse tenants and farmer market tenants. Warehouse tenants market imported and domestic grown fruits and vegetables, whereas farmer market tenants provide only Ontario and Canadian grown.


• Rural Economic Development Advisory Panel: (Advisory Agency) The Rural Economic Development Advisory Panel (REDAP) is a volunteer panel appointed by the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs who have expertise in rural economic development. The REDAP is chaired by the Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and meets on an "as needed" basis but at least quarterly. Panel members review project applications for various rural economic development programs and make recommendations for funding to the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.


• Ontario AgriStability Review Committee: (Advisory Agency) The AgriStability program, delivered by Agricorp, was established to provide producers with effective tools to manage business risks. A program participant may submit a review request in the case of disagreement with how AgriStability program rules were applied to the participant's application. The Ontario AgriStability Review Committee is responsible for hearing review requests of Agricorp decisions in relation to program applications and making non-binding recommendations to Agricorp.