Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Seven named to Ontario growth steering committee

The Ontario government has named seven people to a steering committee on its agriculture-industry growth strategy.

They are Amy Cronin, chairman of the Ontario Pork marketing board, Scott Graham, chairman of the Egg Farmers of Ontario marketing board, consultant Ted Bilyea who was executive vice-president of Maple Leaf Foods Inc., Jim Brandle who is chief executive officer f the Vineland Research and Innovation Centre, Christian von Twickel who is executive vice-president of Dr. Oetker which recently opened a pizza-production facility at London, and Norm Beal, president and founder of Peninsula Ridge Estates Winery.

The committee is chaired by Deb Stark, deputy of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

Jamison Steeve of the Martin Prosperity Institute within the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, is also a member.

They face a daunting challenge because the number of farmers quitting continues and huge processing plants have been shutting down, including the Heinz ketchup plant in Leamington, the Kellogg breakfast cereal plant in London, the Schneider meats plant in Kitchener and Standard Brand's meat-processing plant in Toronto.


But in a news release, Ontario Agriculture Minister Jeff Leal says “Ontario's agriculture and agri-food sector is a pillar for our economy. 

"By bringing together experts from a wide range of backgrounds, this committee will focus on strategic opportunities to achieve the premier's target of 120,000 new jobs in the sector by 2020.”

Premier Kathleen Wynne announced that goal when she was also serving as agriculture minister.