Resolution

WHEREAS Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada has initiated a Review of the Canada Grain Act (CGA) that is well underway; and

WHEREAS the CGA was introduced in the early 1900s to bring balance in the relationship between farmers and the grain industry with regulatory provisions that historically provided farmers with the surety of being treated fairly in their dealings with grain companies: and

WHEREAS the oversight role of the Canadian Grain Commission (CGC) has been significantly diminished in recent decades; and

WHEREAS the CGA Review is of supreme and urgent importance as it will impact the relationship between farmers and the grain industry into the future; and

WHEREAS the recommendations advanced by key farm organizations are similar between these organizations

BE IT RESOLVED that, to safeguard the interests and rights of producers, APAS in cooperation with concerned stakeholders jointly organize a Canada Grain Act (CGA) Summit to review common CGA policy objectives and to develop and endorse common CGA policy recommendations that maintain the effectiveness and integrity of both the Canada Grain Act and the Canadian Grain Commission to act in the interests of producers; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the common CGA policy recommendations from the Summit be communicated to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and the three CGC Commissioners with the request for a follow-up meeting on an urgent basis.