As the Ontario government proceeds with its Open For Business Act, 2010, the Ontario Federation of Agriculture is anxious to have the opportunity to comment on that bill.
The Open for Business initiative is a review of Ontario regulations that hamper business and unnecessarily increase the cost of doing business. Bill 68 is an omnibus piece of legislation proposing to eliminate or change some regulations to make business work better.
In OFA’s submission to the standing committee on finance and economic affairs, as it reviews the Open For Business Act, we call on the government to acknowledge the considerable impact regulations can have on farmers and their businesses. “Farmers represent the largest identifiable group of land owners in the province,” our submission states.
The business of farming involves issues of labour, the environment, animal husbandry, use of chemicals – a broad spectrum of areas where government regulations have a direct impact. In fact, we believe farmers “are very likely affected by more regulations than any other sector of the economy.”
We also believe that often, as government develops new regulations, “little or no thought is given to the potential impact on farmland, accepted farming practices, and our farm businesses.”
That situation often results in farmers and their businesses left to suffer “unintended consequences” from government policies – “unintentional but negative impacts on the farm business from an ill-conceived regulation.”
With that in mind, the OFA is particularly sensitive to the government’s Open For Business initiative. We applaud the government for it and look forward to working with government officials to improve the regulatory environment that farmers work within. We hope it will develop into something beneficial to our farm businesses and society in general.
However, OFA also urges caution in getting rid of regulations – those we see as being necessary ground rules.
As OFA’s submission to the standing committee states, “The removal of regulations may also create unintended consequences – all the implications on our farm businesses must also be considered in removing regulation.”
The act goes well beyond what OFA views as acceptable changes to the Oil, Gas and Salt Resources Act, giving officials from the Ministry of Natural Resources the authority to enter private property without a warrant. We find such authority to be utterly unnecessary and potentially dangerous to our farm businesses and ministry personnel.
OFA feels such powers provide no benefit to society, but represent examples of inappropriate government powers that the act is intended to eliminate. It would appear that no consideration has been given to the potentially serious implication such entry poses to the farm animals, the crops, the farm business and MNR personnel who may have to stare down an angry bull.
We have been told that the inclusion of the warrantless search and incidental pass through provisions simply brings to the Oil, Gas and Salt Resources Act provisions that already exist in other MNR-administered statutes. We clearly and emphatically said that the existence of bad law and bad public policy is no justification for its extension in this bill.
OFA will work hard for farmers to secure good regulation and to eliminate those detrimental to the business of farming. In this sense we are pleased to have been asked by the Open for Business Directorate to lead the agriculture and regulatory review.
This fall we will be convening our colleagues from across the sector to identify several key regulatory issues and the beneficial changes that will improve the farming and food business climate. OFA is proud to take the lead in this initiative.
Regulations can help and harm our businesses. This fall we will be working to secure a better regulatory framework to improve our farm business climate for today and tomorrow.
