L-R: Bill George, chair, OFVGA; Dave Epp, MP Chatham-Kent-Leamington; Gordon Stock, senior policy advisor and government relations, OFVGA

Early in February OFVGA met with its government relations firm, McMillan Vantage to strategize priority issues for the coming months and year. The staff at McMillan has become very strategic assets for the OFVGA as it navigates today’s political landscape. The provincial government is nearly two years old and with that comes changing priorities as it positions itself for the next election. The federal landscape is considerably different with a minority government at play.

So, what does this all mean for government relations strategy? From the meeting with McMillan, some themes became clear.

A single voice is not enough. In an age where it is easy for anyone and everyone to influence government through social media, having a single voice, even if representing thousands of fruit and vegetable farmers, is still only a single voice. Government needs to demonstrate that it has heard from all sides and that the position taken is going to be supported by the majority of stakeholders who have an opinion on the matter.

The message needs to remain consistent. Multiple voices do not mean multiple messages. Messaging to government needs to be done in a consistent and coordinated manner so that elected officials are not getting conflicting perspectives.

A few phone calls are more impactful than many emails. Elected officials can receive hundreds, if not thousands of emails in short periods of time, especially on contentious issues. When industry needs to get the government’s attention on a matter in a hurry, coordinated calls from grassroots farmers to their elected representatives are far more likely to incite action.

Provincial organizations have an increasing role in advocating (lobbying?) the federal government. In the past, I believed that provincial organizations such as the OFVGA needed to work through their national association, such as the Canadian Horticultural Council (CHC), to get traction on federal issues. More and more the federal government has become receptive to receiving regional perspectives, recognizing policies can impact provinces in drastically different ways.

National organizations continue to have a vital role to play. Having staff in Ottawa is valuable to maintaining ongoing relationships and point of contact with the federal government. CHC, for example, needs to be strong to coordinate messaging for the provinces.

So, what does this mean for government relations activities at the OFVGA? For starters, it means we need to employ the grassroots to carry messages to local Members of Parliament and Members of Provincial Parliament. To prepare farmers for some of this work, the OFVGA has recently partnered with Farm and Food Care Ontario to offer Speak Up training during two sessions in March.

Nationally, the OFVGA is increasing its efforts on federal issues. Two of the sector’s top issues are crop protection and labour, which are impacted substantially by federal legislation. To support this, the OFVGA is working to increase its efforts at the federal level both directly in Ottawa, but also meeting with local Members of Parliament who, if informed, can effectively carry our message to Parliament Hill. It is important for all provinces to consider this targeted outreach to support the work done in Ottawa by our national voice, CHC.

The themes I just noted don’t override my primary approach which is to build relationships within government and be as collaborative as possible.  Government relations is not an exact science, which can be even more challenging during turbulent times. This is why OFVGA works so closely with McMillan as we work to carry and coordinate the voice of Ontario’s fruit and vegetable sector at the provincial and national level.

Want to see an issue highlighted here, or learn more about how OFVGA represents growers? Contact Gordon Stock, senior policy and government relations advisor, at gstock@ofvga.org or 519-763-6160, ext. 125. More detailed updates can also be found at www.ofvga.org/news.