ARPA proposal bites the dust


Approval vote falls well short of number needed to go ahead.


By BrydenWinsby T


he ‘Yes’ sidemanaged to finish two votes ahead of the ‘No’—but itwasn’t nearly enough as the


proposedAppleResearch and PromotionAgencywent down to defeat at this year’sB.C. FruitGrowers’ Association convention. Voting began in lateNovember.


Registered growers (thosewithmore than two acres of apples) received the full proposal and voting package in the mail. Two information sessionswere held in January. By the time February’s convention


rolled around, the associationwas still about 60 votes short of theminimum 250 (40 percent of themembership) needed to obtain provincial government consideration. By the end of the gathering, the total


number of votes stood at 269—43.2 per cent of growers eligible to cast ballots. Thatwas enough to be considered valid, butwith 135 in favor, 133 opposed and one spoiled ballot, itwaswell short of the 65 percentmajority required for the proposal to be forwarded to theminister of agriculture. Newly-electedBCFGApresident Fred


Steele said thatwhile the association executive had hoped the initiativewould pass, it is clear the industry is not ready for the agency. “Wewill advise the apple associations


fromthe other provinces that the initiative is ended, and pursue other strategic approaches to improving our industry.” TheARPAwas proposed to be part of


a national apple council. There is support for the idea inOntario and Quebec, butNova Scotia growers are divided. If approved, theARPAwould have


collected a levy fromall producerswith more than two acres of apples and directed themoney to research and promotion projects.Additional funding would come frommatching government research and promotion programs, the ScientificResearch andExperimental Development tax credit, and a proposed levy on apple imports toCanada.


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u d. t n e c “We’re losing growers and acreage,”


BCFGAexecutivemember Peter Simonsen said during the convention, describing the situation as part of a national trend and noting thatB.C. now stands third among the country's apple- producing provinces. Simonsen said it's important the


industry focus on domestic sales. “We're notmuch of a player globally,” he said, adding thatCanada’s apple trade deficit has nowreached record levels. The import levywould be collected by theCanadianHorticulturalCouncil


(CHC),which has been spearheading the plan.BCFGAgeneralmanagerGlen Lucas,who alongwith president Jeet Dukhia attendedmeetings of theCHC committee in early January, said the plan called formoney collected inB.C. to remain in this province and potentially be about $320,000 annually. The levy would have been applied over a five-year initial period, at two cents per pound or $8 per box. First paymentswould be collected on the 2015 crop. The national import levywould be initiatedwithin three years.


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