Elmer Buchanan appointed Trustee of the Ontario Processing Vegetable Growers Board
By Andrea Gal
Managing Editor, Integrated Media
This morning, Jeff Leal, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and Minister Responsible for Small Business, announced the appointment of Elmer Buchanan as the Trustee of the Ontario Processing Vegetable Growers (OPVG) Board. “In this role, Mr. Buchanan temporarily assumes the powers of the board to negotiate 2017 contracts, until elections for an OPVG Board are held prior to December 31, 2017,” Leal said in the release.
Leal has been monitoring the situation since August 2016. He recently learned that growers and processors had reached an impasse in their negotiations, and so he acted to address the situation before the start of the 2017 growing season.
Buchanan “will exercise all powers and responsibilities of the OPVG board as a trustee until the end of the year,” Leal said in an exclusive interview with Better Farming. But Buchanan “has not been given any additional powers – (he has the) same powers that would be exercised by the current board,” Leal explained.
“The government isn’t wavering from its commitment to regulated marketing in Ontario,” Leal said. Rather, this appointment was made “in response to a unique situation in Ontario’s processing sector.
“This mandate will ensure that Mr. Buchanan assists in the negotiations of 2017 contracts, benefitting both parties involved and saving the tomato season.”
Leal remains focused on achieving “reform (in the OPVG framework) for the 2018 growing season and beyond.”
Buchanan has a long career serving in the agricultural industry. He was Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs from 1990 to 1995. “During that period of time, Buchanan was recognized by all parties in the Ontario legislature as a man of great integrity and dedication,” Leal said.
Buchanan was also involved in the reinvention of the province’s horse racing industry, serving on the horse industry transition panel and then becoming chair of the revamped Ontario Racing Commission in 2013. Until yesterday, Buchanan served as the vice-chair of the Ontario Farm Products Marketing Commission.
Buchanan also farms in the Township of Havelock-Belmont-Methuen in Peterborough County, Leal’s home riding.
Further details on this announcement will be updated shortly.
Photo Source: Legislative Assembly of Ontario