It’s costing 37 chicken farmers, many of them Old Order
Mennonites, $1,997.84 per year to continue to communicate by mail now that the marketing board has gone electronic.
Another 13 chicken farmers have made arrangements with
others to handle their electronic communications with the marketing board.
 |
| Paul Sarantakos |
He held out until 20 minutes before an appeal tribunal
hearing in Guelph and took a last-minute offer from the board to have his
communications continue to be handled by regular mail.
The board earlier ruled that Sarantakos did not qualify for
communications either via somebody else’s computer or by mail, but relented in
communications board lawyer Geoff Spurr and a chicken board staff member.
What remains an open question is whether Sarantakos will pay
the $1,768 fee, plus $229.84 HST, or file an appeal.
The tribunal negotiated a deal on his behalf, winning
agreement from Spurr that he can have a bit more time to appeal the fee.
Before tribunal member Arnold Strub of London intervened,
Sarantakos faced the possibility that his quota would be cancelled if he fails
to pay the fee. That’s the penalty the board was going to impose before the
compromise was reached.
It would have, tribunal chairman Jeffrey Hewitt noted,
deprive Sarantakos of his income.
Sarantakos indicated in a letter he wrote to the tribunal in
May that he objects to the fee, but Spurr argued that was not the issue under
appeal. He argued, and the tribunal agreed, that he would have to go through
another appeal to the chicken board, and perhaps to the tribunal, to object to
the fee.
The board was willing to give Sarantakos until Nov. 29, the
beginning of quota period A-134, to pay the fee. That, however, would make
timing tight to go through the entire appeal process, so Strub suggested that
he pay the fee and therefore retain his quota, but be allowed to appeal
retroactively. If he should win and not have to pay any fee, his money will be
refunded.
Sarantakos said he does not own a computer, nor does he know
how to operate one, so wants to continue to get his communications by mail.
But the board began converting to electronic communications
more than a year ago, including regulatory forms for production and marketing
for each eight-week quota period. Processors and truckers are also on the
electronic system.
Spurr said the conversion to electronic communications was
“expensive and time-consuming” and was done with government grant money and
funds from the fees producers pay.
He said the first phase, to require producers to have a
commercial e-mail account, began more than a year ago and about 800 of the
1,100 producers already qualified.
Fifty applied for exemptions and the board of directors
approved 37 to continue communications by mail. Spurr said there were
conditions to qualify for an exemption, such as religious standards for Old
Order Mennonites and the lack of internet communcations towers available to
some producers.
