On November 16 the ASB Provincial Committee met for their organizational meeting. The agenda for November 16, and the 2021 Committee appointments are now posted. The October 9 minutes were approved and are now posted.
As part of the meeting the Committee approved the Briefing to be sent to the Minister’s office prior to the Nov 23 online conversation with Minister Dreeshen. They discussed at length the current issues and resolutions that would need to be brought up with the Minister and the importance of determining the vision for the ministry and the role of the ASBs going forward.
As of Nov 16, there was still no movement on the Resource stream funding. Doug continues to press for decision, however the ADM did tell the committee not to expect anything before the 4th quarter. There remains uncertainty as to if or how much of the 2020 Resource stream will be available, and what implications that will have for multiple year agreements. The Committee will bring up this issue and the concerns with the implications for the 2021 budgets with the Minister on November 23.
The Committee reviewed the submitted 2021 resolutions and discussed concerns about the online resolution process. Agenda packages for the resolution session are due to be sent out on Dec 1, and the Committee discussed asking for known amendments to be submitted in writing before the resolution session to facilitate the online process. Updates for the Rules of Procedure to better align the ASB resolution process with RMA were discussed and will be presented at the conference.
Agricultural Service Boards 