The Lambton Federation of Agriculture again had a very active year. The following are some of the highlights.
In November we made food donations to Petrolia and Forest food banks. We also attended a meeting with County Council regarding toxic waste disposal at “Clean Harbors“. Later on LFA attended monthly meetings of the committee that the Lambton County council put together. We held our annual meeting with Kevin Stewart as our guest speaker and also presented a number of scholarships to Lambton students. Members from Lambton attended the Annual Meeting Convention in Toronto.
In December we again participated with BDO Dunwoody LLP and OMAF in another successful Farm Management and Taxation Day in Wyoming. LFA participated with a booth at John Deere Days at Podolinsky Farm Equipment and helped to sponsor a meeting in Alvinston on Bill 81 the “Nutrient Management Act“.
In January the LFA held another meeting for farmers of the “‘Nutrient Management Act” at Wyoming. From that meeting the LFA put a brief together which was presented to the Minister of Agriculture in early February.
February brought “Food Freedom Day” the day when the average working Canadian has earned enough money to pay for their food for the year. On February h OFA President Ron Bonnett and executive member Paul Mistele, Becky Lunn and myself where on CHOK “Talk Back” show with Sue Storr. We later toured and met with farmers and farm groups in the county. Also this month the LFA was presented with a plaque from the Sarnia Lambton Economic Council. February also saw one of the rare times we had to cancel our board meeting because of bad weather.
In March we participated in the Farm show in London and were involved with meetings and lobbying on the Agricultural Policy Framework.
April saw early signs of spring and we completed our yearly donation to area food banks by donating about 5000 lbs of canned goods to the Inn of the Good Shepherd in Sarnia. We made a presentation to Sarnia Council on behalf of the rural residents of Sarnia Township with regards to Transit charges on their property taxes.
The summer and fall months saw us deal with issues such as BSE, Farm Taxation and Classification, high speed internet for rural areas, APF, toxic waste, hydro rates, Canadian Coast Guard, Gas Storage, OSPCA (Ontario Society for the prevention of cruelty to Animals) and Provincial election.
Last year our very dedicated secretary for many years Lois Wakefield announced she wished to retire at the end of our business year September 30, 2002. We hired Cathy Young to replace Lois but unfortunately Cathy was never able to join us because of the ongoing health problem s with her little girl Hannah. Our thoughts and prayers are still with Cathy, John and Hannah and we wish for Hannah’s total recovery. Lois being the dedicated person she was stayed on an extra year hoping things would work out for Cathy & John. However now we have hired Marilyn Jones, a former director, as our secretary and look forward to working with her. Again Lois we say thank-you very much for so many dedicated years.
I want also to say a special thank you to our former MSR Maria Van Bommel and now one of the MPP’s representing Lambton. Maria was very dedicated on working on problems for Lambton and Middlesex federation members and I know that will follow through with her as she serves as MPP. Thanks on behalf of the LFA and we look forward to working with you in the term ahead. Also we want to say thank you to Marcel Beaubien for his many dedicated years to producers in Lambton. We wish to welcome Becky Lunn as our new MSR and look forward to working with her.
I would like to close by saying thank you to the farmers of Lambton for allowing me to be their LFA president for the past two years. The farmers of Lambton have always been progressive and active in their county and at provincial level, and one of our future challenges is to move these things to the next generation. I want to thank all my directors for their support. I would especially thank Debbie Coke for her monthly radio reports on LFA activities and vice president Dennis for attending events and meetings when I was unable. To the directors who are retiring thank-you for your many years and I wish you all the best for the future. I wish Dennis and his new executive the very best. Finally I would like to say thank you to my wife Anne for her always dedicated support.
~Jim Duffy~
President, Lambton Federation of Agriculture