OFA President Don McCabe says the new Environmental Commissioner of Ontario could use some Ag 101.
The ECO was recently quoted as suggesting she'd like to see an end to what she called cheap diesel for farmers.
McCabe says her comments reflected her misunderstanding of Ontario agriculture.
He's already talked to the ECO about her comments and she has agreed to meet with the President's Council next month to discuss agricultural issues.
McCabe argues both the Commissioner and the Ontario Federation of Agriculture would have benefitted from some consultation before she made her comments.
And while he thinks the ECO should have initiated some consultation before making her comments, McCabe also suggests it behooves the people with the information to make that information accessible.
"The consultation portion here is just not reading something in the paper and then being ugly about it. It's also the issue of reaching back across the board to say look, you screwed up here, and I'm here to help as opposed to simmering about it and assuming that everybody's wrong."
The OFA president says he's had discussions with government officials recently and doesn't believe there are any farm fuel tax changes in the works.
McCabe adds that the ECO has made some comments about the importance of land use planning, an area where he feels she and the OFA share some common ground.
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McCabe points out the Commissioner has no standing in government to make any changes to regulations.
[audio mp3="http://blackburnnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/ECO-McCabe-1.mp3"][/audio]
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McCabe says both the Commissioner and the Ontario Federation of Agriculture would have benefitted from some consultation before she made those comments.
But he suggests it's not too late.
[audio mp3="http://blackburnnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/ECO-McCabe-2.mp3"][/audio]
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McCabe says he's had a chance to talk to the Commissioner about her comments and she has agreed to meet with the President's Council next month to discuss agricultural issues.
[audio mp3="http://blackburnnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/ECO-McCabe-3.mp3"][/audio]
