TO THE MEMBERSHIP OF DISTRICT 1, REGION 1:
I am pleased to send you this newsletter with details of our Collective Bargaining agreement on fertilizer which was recently negotiated with P. E. I. Agromart as well as information on the fuel agreement and our upcoming annual Lobster Supper.
Fertilizer Agreement – Members of the NFU Collective Bargaining Committee met recently with P. E. I. Agromart to obtain a fertilizer agreement for NFU members for 2019. The following items comprise the agreement for 2019 – this will be signed in the very near future.
1. The commencement date of this agreement was April 1, 2019.
2. The agreement on fertilizer purchases will be in effect until November 20, 2019. Farmers are encouraged to have their fertilizer accounts paid by that date. Rebates will be paid to farmers according to the amount paid by that date. The rebate to NFU members will increase this year to $8.25 per tonne. The rebate paid to members on the Summerside Soil Amendment will be $1.50 per tonne this year.
3. PEI Agromart will make payment owed to farmers and the NFU by December 31, 2019. Please see the attached brochure from Agromart. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU IDENTIFY YOURSELF AS A NFU MEMBER AT THE TIME OF EVERY PURCHASE. This will ensure that you receive your rebate.
If you have any questions, please contact the Collective Bargaining Committee members – Gordon Vessey at 902-629-1332; Vernon MacLeod at 902-651-2406 or myself at 902-436-2518.
I might add that the issuing of the fertilizer rebate for 2018 has been delayed, but it is expected that NFU members will receive their rebate cheques in the very near future.
FUEL AGREEMENT – The Collective Bargaining Committee has secured an agreement with Island Petroleum Ltd. for NFU members for 2019. Again, it is important to make sure that Island Petroleum knows you are a member of the NFU in order to receive your reduced price of fuel at the time of each delivery.
LOBSTER SUPPER – Kinkora Place in Kinkora has been booked for Saturday, June 8, 2019 for our annual lobster supper for NFU members and friends. Supper will begin at 7:30 p.m. The cost will be approximately $20 per person.
The District will supply the dinner rolls and members are asked to bring a salad or dessert to share. There will be meat available for those who do not eat lobster. Tickets will be available from Douglas Campbell at 902-436-2518; Elwin Wyand at 902-963-2621; Reg Phelan at 902-961-2428; Byron Petrie at 902-213-5862; Randall Affleck at 902-887-2597 or Edith Ling at 902-368-1262.
DISTRICT CONVENTION – Our NFU District Convention was held in March with a large group of people in attendance. We received a slide presentation from the then Minister of Communities, Lands and Environment , Richard Brown and staff member Spencer Matheson. As expected, this was inconclusive and really did not delve far enough into the issue to show the real picture of land in this Province being purchased by non-residents and corporations. Resolutions were considered during the day. If you would like to have a copy, please contact
Edith Ling at 902-368-1262. District officials were re-elected for another term – District Director, Douglas Campbell; Women’s District Director, Edith Ling; Youth District Director, Byron Petrie.
LAND – The NFU has continued to work diligently on the matter of preserving and protecting our farm land for family farmers. Much investigative work has been carried on, meetings held, and letters to the editor written. On the day the election writ was dropped, March 26, 2019 we were pleased to learn that Executive Council denied the request of three Irving corporations to purchase over 2,200 acres of land from Brendel Farms in North Bedeque and other areas. However, we were disappointed to learn that on the very same day, Executive Council granted permission to Island Holdings Ltd. of New Brunswick to purchase 100.25 acres of land in Margate. Directors of Island Holdings Ltd. are none other than James K. Irving and Robert K. Irving. It is hard to conclude that the previous administration in this Province was serious in upholding the spirit and intent of the PEI Lands Protection Act.
When the new government is in place in this Province, the NFU plans to make arrangements to schedule a meeting. Hopefully, we will not be met with the same opposition as we have experienced in years past when we tried to ensure the enforcement of the Lands Protection Act. We are hopeful that the new government will act quickly to close the obvious loopholes that have been used to circumvent the original purpose of the Act.
The moratorium on high capacity wells for agricultural irrigation will be another matter we will closely watch. Water extraction from the holding ponds is another issue we will be discussing.
NATIONAL CONVENTION – The 50th anniversary of the founding of the NFU will be celebrated at the National Convention from November 25 to 28th in Winnipeg – where it all began. I hope you will plan to attend. It is expected that the Region 1 Convention will be held in PEI later this year.
I look forward to seeing you all at the lobster supper on June 8 in Kinkora.
Douglas Campbell, NFU District Director
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