Head of Canadian farm group stepping down in February

TheStar.com
November 15, 2018
Mia Rabson

The head of one of this country’s biggest farm organizations says he’s hanging up his farm-politics hat at the end of February.

Ron Bonnett told iPolitics on Wednesday he has done a “bit of soul searching” and will not be seeking another term as president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA). Formed in 1935, CFA represents more than 200,000 farmers and their families across the country.

Ron Bonnett will not be seeking another term as president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture.

“It’s been good, but I think it’s time to step aside,” Bonnett said in an interview on the sidelines of the Canadian Centre for Food Integrity’s Public Trust Summit, adding he’s still “looking to see how to stay involved in agriculture in some other capacity.”

“I might even spend some time on the farm, if my wife doesn’t kick me out,” the cow-calf operator said with a chuckle.

Bonnett, who ranches in northern Ontario, is no stranger to farm politics. For more than 20 years, he’s been a familiar face in political circles, both at farm and government levels.

When he retires, he will have served as president of CFA, the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, and the Algoma Federation of Agriculture in northern Ontario, a group he founded in the mid-1980s when interest rates were high and farm bankruptcies were commonplace.

Since then, he’s served on countless federal and provincial advisory boards, including the Canadian Firearms Advisory Committee and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Industrial Bioproducts Value Chain Roundtable. He told iPolitics he also pops into the Beef Value Roundtable “from time to time.”

During his time as the group’s president, he’s appeared as a regular witness in front of both parliamentary agriculture committees, where he’s pushed for broader recognition of both the sector and its issues, including farmers’ mental health, tax reform, climate change, better-business risk management, public trust, food safety and labour.

He will cherish his time with the CFA, Bonnett told iPolitics.

“It’s been a real exciting tenure for me --everything from working with the different provinces, dealing with some of the national issues, being founding president of the World Farmers’ Organization (WFO) for a short period of time. I’ve met so many people.”

Bonnett was interim president of the WFO, which he helped to found in 2011. He was also on its board for four years.

Bonnett told iPolitics that one person, Saskatchewan farmer Norm Hall, has expressed his intention to seek the group’s presidency. More candidates are expected to announce their candidacies in the coming months.

“I think one of the problems we find sometimes with some organizations is that you have somebody sitting at the head for so long, nobody feels there’s an opportunity to advance,” he said. “I think having that advancement … is good for the organization, so we’ll be having some elections.”

CFA elections are set for the end of February as part of the group’s annual general meeting in Ottawa.