Local Activities

We are always pleased to highlight the activities of Agriculture Union Locals, both in the workplace and in the community. Click on a calendar year to see Local activities promoted on our Web site.

Locals are encouraged to submit information and photos on their activities to the National Office HERE.

2010

Local 4 backs CFIA Social Committee’s support to ‘Cammie’ as the little PEI girl courageously fights cancer

(Posted February 22, 2010)

Cameron Richard turned three on February 5. For parents Melissa Hackett and Greg Richard, their daughter’s birthday was more than special. It was in many ways miraculous. For some had feared that ‘Cammie’ might not survive to reach it.

As this is written, the brave little girl continues to beat the odds, successfully continuing a lengthy and difficult battle against neuroblastoma – an insidious form of cancer that is the most commonly found in infants under age two.

Cammie’s struggle for life began in the spring of 2009, when she was rushed from her Prince Edward Island home to Halifax’s IWK Health Centre, the leading children’s care hospital in the Maritimes. There, surgeons found cancer tumours throughout her tiny body. A vigorous course of chemotherapy and successful surgeries in Halifax were followed up with a six-week stay at Toronto’s Sick Children’s Hospital while receiving bone marrow stem cell treatment. From the very start, Cammie’s plight drew the attention of the PEI media and the entire Island community, including CFIA’s Social Committee. Committee members decided that all their 2009 fund-raising would be donated to offset the medical, travel and accommodation expenses incurred by Cammie and her family in the course of her treatment. Thanks to the generosity of Local 4 members and other Island organizations, the Social Committee raised $3,000 through a wide variety of activities that ranged from bingo games to 50/50 draws to an on-line auction.

Although not yet out of the medical woods, Cammie continues to defy the odds. She was released from the IWK Health Centre at the end of 2009 and is staying with her mother at her aunt’s home in Halifax while undergoing radiation treatment on an outpatient basis.

Our hearts and hopes go out to Cammie and her family as this sweet but tough little girl makes continued progress.

2009

Kelowna Local President almost reaches 100!

(Posted January 20, 2009)

(It didn’t take long for our Locals to respond to our appeal for stories of our members’ good works in their workplaces and communities. What follows is the first of what we hope will be many human interest stories to receive deserved publicity on our Web site.)

Sometime in the near future, Doug Nelmes will pass the century mark. No, not in years. But, rather, in something equally impressive: the one hundredth time he has laid down and donated blood.

Doug is President of Agriculture Union Local 27, representing our Canadian Food Inspection Agency members in the Okanagan Centre area of British Columbia. The Kelowna resident has also been recognized as a ‘champion’ in the Canadian Blood Services’ Partners for Life program. The program works with community organizations, corporations and governments – in this case, the CFIA – to promote frequent blood donations by workplace colleagues.

Doug didn’t need a lot of encouragement to get involved. A long-time blood donor, he had already organized the relatively-small Kelowna CFIA office six months before CFIA formally joined Partners for Life in the July 2007. All this effort was part of the 2007 Public Service Challenge, a friendly B.C.-wide challenge that pits federal and provincial employees against one another to see which group can donate the most blood throughout the summer.

The Local President continued (and continues to this day) to organize group donations to the Kelowna blood donor clinic roughly every two months. The photo above shows Doug, at the left in the back row, and a group of colleagues from his CFIA workplace.

Not content to rest on his laurels, Doug is now involved in his latest project, building on his leadership role in a successful province-wide CFIA donor campaign challenge held from January to April 2008.

Congratulations Doug! Not too many people can reach 100 and still be as energetic as ever!

Vancouver members mark Chinese New Year in true (Scottish?!) style

(Posted February 5, 2009)

Haggis at a Chinese New Year’s eve banquet? You bet!

The Scottish…uh…delicacy was being served up at the ‘Gung Haggis Fat Choy Robbie Burns and Chinese New Year's Eve Dinner’ in Vancouver on January 25. The annual event is organized by Todd Wong – a fifth-generation Chinese-Canadian, librarian and member of the Canadian Union of Public Employees – as a fun way to recognize the pioneering role played by the two cultural communities.

Todd (or, ‘Toddish McWong’ as he is known while hosting the festivities) also sees it as a way for the two communities to rub shoulders, and for union members to mingle with the broader community.

So, we’re pleased to say that the Agriculture Union was represented by a table of members at this year’s dinner, which drew more than 500 people. Some of those members can be seen toasting the New Year in the photo below. Another labour-sponsored table, with other BC PSAC members, was just behind our own.
Photo of Agriculture Union members with Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson

The photo above shows a few Agriculture Union members with Gregor Robertson, Vancouver’s new progressive Mayor and proud Scotsman (note the dress kilt). Speaking of finery, members Jennie Chu and Terri Lee can also be seen in traditional Chinese jackets,

Historically, Chinese New Year is a 15-day celebration beginning with the first new moon of the New Year and ending with a Lantern Festival on the night of the full moon. For Chinese around the world, this is the ‘Year of the Ox’. And the year isn’t 2009, but rather 4707 on the Chinese calendar.

So, if a few bars of ‘Auld Lang Syne’ could be heard over cries of Gung Hay Fat Choy (Cantonese) or Xin Nian Kuai Le (Mandarin), that just speaks to the cosmopolitan multiculturalism of the city our Vancouver members are proud to call home.

Saskatoon’s Local 22 Members put their ‘stamp’ on mail-out to ‘lick’ Bill C-10

(Posted March 4, 2009)

Local 22 members in Saskatoon have put their own ‘stamp’ on a campaign to ‘lick’ federal legislation attacking both free collective bargaining and hard-won pay equity payouts.

Our bargaining agent, the Public Service Alliance of Canada, has mounted a campaign in opposition to Bill C-10, the innocent-sounding Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on January 27, 2009 and related fiscal measures. The Harper government tabled the legislation in the House of Commons on January 27.

Among its many vices, the Act legislates wage rates for federal public sector workers and sets out a new federal pay equity regime that ignores the recommendations of the 2004 Pay Equity Task Force.

The PSAC is convinced that these and other measures in Bill C-10 violate a 2007 Supreme Court of Canada decision that found free collective bargaining to be encompassed and protected by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Last month, our members answered the call of the PSAC’s Saskatoon and Prince Albert Area Councils for help in drafting and mailing roughly 2,000 flyers laying out the dangers of C-10 to all members in Northern Saskatchewan.

.

The top photo above shows Eleyna Beynon, Local 22 President and Alternate Regional Vice President hard at work on a folding machine. Angie Chudy, Saskatchewan representative on our union’s Human Rights Committee, can be seen at the right of the adjacent photo. Finally, the photo directly above shows Local 22 members Nicole Wurm, Rosemary Neufeld and Susan Putz (first, second and fourth from the left).

By the way, no tongues were injured in this highly-successful mail-out thanks to the use of self-sealing envelopes! On a more serious note, our Local 22 members are to be congratulated for their ongoing work with the PSAC Area Councils and on this effort in particular.

Local 2 activist named Nova Scotia labour’s ‘Woman of the Year’

(Posted March 12, 2009)

Our congratulations to Deborah Young, Local 2 activist and, now, the Nova Scotia Federation of Labour’s ‘Woman of the Year’! Deborah received the honour at the NSFL’s Women’s Conference, held last weekend to coincide with the March 8 celebration of International Women’s Day. A Halifax employee of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Deborah was honoured for her impressive record of support for her union and the broader labour movement and for her many years of volunteer work on behalf of the disadvantaged in her province and abroad. Deborah is indeed a role model, particularly for our younger women members following in her footsteps. She does the Agriculture Union proud!

Local 4 comes through – again – with Easter beef donation

(Posted May 21, 2009)

For the third consecutive year, Local 4 has set the scene – and the table – for a happier Easter for many of Prince Edward Island’s less fortunate families.

As in past years, Local President Gary Paynter and other executive members went to the Easter Beef Show and Sale in Charlottetown looking for the best beef on the hoof. They successfully bid for a shorthorn steer that was reserve champion, close to best of show.

The Local arranged for the beef to be dressed, packaged and delivered to the Charlottetown and Summerside Food Banks just in time for Easter dinners.

The photos above, from top to bottom, show:
          • the delivery of the packaged beef by Local 4’s Paynter (left) and Eric (right) to Charlottetown Food Bank

                  manager Mike MacDonald;
          • a similar delivery to the Summerside Food Bank From left to right are: and Paynter; and
          • Local 4’s reserve champion shorthorn steer, with (from left to right) Local Vice-President Eric Wonnacott,

                  Local member Gary Keough and farmer’s son Cory Ford.

Funds for purchase of the beef were donated by Local 4, the Agriculture Union National Office and the Public Service Alliance of Canada.

Nova Scotia members continue ‘shoebox’ tradition of holiday season gifts for African orphans

(Posted December 4, 2009)

Hundreds of deserving African orphans will have a happier holiday season thanks to the strong support of our Nova Scotia members.

For yet another year, Agriculture Union members have been prominent backers of the One Box, One Child, One Time charity.

Working with other Public Service Alliance members, 322 shoeboxes filled with practical gifts were packaged on November 7 alone at the Halifax PSAC Regional Office.

Thanks to the generosity of Local 80002 members – who work for both Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency – an additional 553 boxes were able to be packed.

When the wrapping was completed, close to 900 shoeboxes were shipped to Africa the week of November 16-20 – just in time for the holidays. More than $3,000 was also raised in cash contributions to defray mailing costs.

“The shoe boxes were filled to overflowing,” said Deborah Young, Local 2’s shoebox campaign co-ordinator. “Last year, we sent 498 shoe boxes; this year, our total was 875. This amazing result is thanks to the generosity and work of countless individuals.

“Local 80002 members were joined by Agriculture Union members in Kentville, by other staff at CFIA and AAFC and many friends and family members. It really was a case of many hands making light work!”

The above photo shows members of the PSAC’s Halifax Human Rights Committee who volunteered their time and effort on this year’s campaign. Our own Deborah Young is at the far right.

This charitable effort was yet another highly-worthwhile project supported by the Agriculture Union’s Social Justice Fund.

The ‘shoebox campaign’ is coordinated at the national level by Samaritan’s Purse, a charity working in over 100 countries around the world to provide humanitarian aid regardless of race, religion, or gender.

2008

Local 4 continues Easter tradition of beef donation to PEI food banks

(Posted March 3, 2008)

Continuing a yearly tradition, Agriculture Union Local 4 will be donating dressed beef to food banks across Prince Edward Island in time to benefit less fortunate families this Easter holiday.

The Local successfully bid on a prize beef at the February 29 Easter Beef Show and Sale in Charlottetown.

Funds for purchase of the beef were donated by Local 4, the Agriculture Union National Office and the Public Service Alliance of Canada.

Local President Gary Paynter noted that the donation not only demonstrates the union’s commitment to social justice, but also serves as a goodwill gesture towards the beef industry and underscores the important role played by the CFIA and its Agriculture Union members.

Local 17 members put some ‘bite’ into support for Treasury Board bargaining teams

(Posted May 2, 2008)

Our bargaining agent, the Public Service Alliance of Canada, is now at the table attempting to secure a new collective agreement for those Agriculture Union members who are part of the core public service.

Negotiations with Treasury Board are long, hard and often frustrating. The PSAC has asked that members show their support for our bargaining teams by organizing activities in the workplace.

Local 17, representing our members employed by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Research Station in the London, Ontario area rose to the challenge last week.

Local President Dorothy Drew, Vice-President Nancy Richter and a group of enthusiastic activists organized information sessions in the two AAFC sites where Local 17 members work. While information flyers and green bargaining support wristbands were distributed, the centrepiece was the decorative cake you see in the photos below.

Almost all Local 17 members attended the information sessions, which featured an overview of the status of negotiations and an opportunity for questions and discussion.

And, of course, a chance to sample some special cake! “For now,” Nancy says, “we’ll ‘let them eat cake’, but we have confidence in our bargaining teams!”

Dorothy says the addition of a bit of fun to a serious subject resulted in a highly successful and productive event. In fact, it seems that green wristbands have now become something of a fixture in Local 17 workplaces. “They certainly do stand out!” she notes.

Labour Day celebration a ‘union family’ affair for London-area Locals

(Posted September 5, 2008)

It’s a small tradition, marking a big tradition.

For half-a-dozen years now, Agriculture Unions Locals 16 and17 have been avid and active participants in the PSAC London Area Council’s Labour Day festivities.

More than just another holiday Monday, Labour Day is an occasion for unions and their members to mark the tremendous contributions working men and women make to the health and wealth of this nation.

Our London Locals also see to it that those unable to attend the Labour Day BBQ in downtown London can get in on the celebration. The above photos show special cakes delivered by executive members to CFIA and AAFC workplaces in the area.

Nappan Local repays community support for fight against experimental farm closure

(Posted October 4, 2008)

Three years ago, the people of the Amherst region of Nova Scotia rallied to our union’s successful fight to block the then-Liberal government’s move to close the Nappan Experimental Farm.

The members of Agriculture Union Local 80058 recently repaid that support for the 143-year-old research facility with the donation of Grade A beef to Cumberland County’s food banks.

The source of the gift can be seen in the above photo – a 1,313-pound steer purchased by Local 80058 members. Local secretary-treasurer Julie Smith can be seen second from the right.

The photo below shows the delivery of the dressed and packaged beef to an area food bank: (from left to right) Local member Mike Wheaton, food bank coordinator Pat Wilson, Local member John Gallant, Local member Robin McIvor and Local president Traci Gowan.

Photo of the delivery of the dressed and packaged beef to an area food bank by our Nappan Local members

Congratulations to all Local members for their generous donation to those most in need in their community

Help for less fortunate, both abroad and at home: Nova Scotia members show true spirit of the holiday season

(Posted December 8, 2008)

Christmas shoeboxes, rather than stockings, have been the preoccupation of dozens of our Nova Scotia members over the past few weeks. The reason is Local 2’s annual involvement in several charitable efforts aimed at the holiday season.

The photos above show various members involved in the 2008 Shoebox Campaign, preparing shoeboxes of useful presents for overseas children. Those below show the stocking of sandwiches and soup to benefit Hope Cottage, a charity that provides meals to the less fortunate people of Halifax.

More good works from our Nova Scotia members: An autumn harvest for the Bedford Food Bank!

(Posted December 28, 2008)

Maritimers have a well-deserved reputation for banding together to help one another. And, here’s yet another example of Agriculture Union members volunteering their help for a good cause.

Last October, members of Local 3 – representing AAFC and CFIA members in the Kentville, Nova Scotia area – pitched in to help the Farm Credit Corporation’s ‘Drive Away Hunger’ campaign. Local members formed a large part of the volunteers – shown in the photo below – who gathered an impressive one thousand kilograms of food to be distributed to the province’s food banks.

Local 3’s hard work was supported by a financial contribution from the Agriculture Union National Office. The photo below shows Sonya Shaw - Drive Away Hunger Co-ordinator, accepting a cheque from Fabian Murphy, Fourth National Executive Vice-President.

2007

An especially happy Easter for some of PEI’s most deserving families, thanks to Local 4

(Posted April 5, 2007)

Prince Edward Island, due to its small population and island life, is a close-knit community. Helping your neighbours and working together for the common good come naturally to Islanders. It’s a philosophy well understood and appreciated by union members.

It was in this spirit that Local 4 President Gary Paynter and his members decided to make a special gesture in the run-up to the Easter weekend to help some of PEI’s most deserving families.

Local 4 went to market…to the auction, actually… and ended up the proud owners of a reserved champion steer! Gary and Local 4 member Jill Potts, a BSE Inspector, can be seen in the photo below with their blue-ribbon, four-footed friend. The $2,500 auction price was backed by funds from the Local, the Agriculture Union National Office and the Public Service Alliance of Canada – Atlantic Region.

Local 4 arranged for the beef to be dressed, packaged and delivered to the Charlottetown Food Bank just in time for Easter dinners.

The actions and generosity of Local 4 members was widely noted and appreciated, both by those at the auction and by the staff of the food bank. And, in a small place like PEI, the word is quickly getting around.

Gary says his members were “determined that it should be the most needy of the Island’s population who should get the benefit” of Local 4’s foray into the livestock trade.

With national contract negotiations getting under way, Gary notes that “we also wanted to reinforce to producers, processors and consumers alike that we’re always on their side in ensuring that safe, quality food reaches everyone’s home – at Easter, and all year round.”

Agriculture Union Local 4 represents CFIA inspectors, laboratory personnel and research and other technicians throughout PEI.

London-area Locals mark Labour Day in grand style

(Posted September 7, 2007)

For more than a century, Labour Day has been an occasion for celebration by unions and their members throughout North America.

More than just an end-of-summer holiday, it’s an occasion to pause and recognize the tremendous contributions working men and women make to the health and wealth of this nation.

For five years now, our Agriculture Unions Locals 16 and17 have shown this spirit by participating in a major way in the annual Labour Day Celebration festivities organized by the PSAC London Area Council. Attendees have included local dignitaries, MPs, MPPs as well as PSAC Ontario Regional Vice-President Gerry Halabecki, whose office generously provided the ‘Defending Quality Public Service’ T-shirts and co-sponsored the event.

For those unable to attend the Labour Day BBQ in downtown London, celebratory cakes were delivered to our members in both London offices.

The above photo shows Local 17 President Dorothy Drew and Vice-President Nancy Richter (sporting green PSAC T-shirts) and just a few of the more than 80 members who turned out for the August 30 festivities at AAFC’s London Research Station. Nancy also sports a second ‘hat’ – that of President of the PSAC Area Council, which represent approximately 3,500 PSAC members from six component unions.

The photo below of a group of Local 16 members includes President Jim Hale (far left) and José Evangelho (holding the cake). José is Local Vice-President and a representative of the London Area Council and also serves as the SW Regional Representative on the PSAC Regional Council.

Even management got swept up with the festivities, as the last photo shows.  That’s Research Manager, Dr. Karl Volkmar showing the back of the PSAC T-shirt, flanked by Nancy (at left) and Dorothy.

Agriculture Union joins in Saskatoon Labour Day BBQ festivities

(Posted September 14, 2007)

Agriculture Union officers and members were out in force at the Saskatoon and District Labour Council’s annual Labour Day BBQ.

Howard Willems, our Fourth National Executive Vice-President, Northern Saskatchewan Regional Vice-President Brenda Baergen and Marianne Hladun, our union’s National Director for Equal Opportunities were among the more than one thousand union members, family and friends attending the ever-popular picnic.

The above photo shows Howard and Brenda (standing on the left) at the PSAC’s ‘Public Services Are Cool’ table; the one below shows Marianne applying a no-doubt-temporary tattoo to the leg of Larry Hubich, President of the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour.

2006

Birthday Bike-A-Thon raises more than $6,000 for charity

(Posted June 6, 2006)

A birthday is usually the one day of the year when you can count on being the centre of attention. But, for Brenda Baergen, it’s a chance to shine a light on those less advantaged.

Every year, the Agriculture Union Regional Vice-President for Northern Saskatchewan celebrates her birthday by organizing a ‘Bike-A-Thon’ for charity. This year’s charity is ‘Nashi’, a local group that works to raise awareness of the human trafficking of young Ukrainian women into the European and North American sex trade.

So it was that 12 hardy (and not-so-hardy) souls set out on a stormy Saskatoon Saturday, June 3, for a challenging 40 kilometre cycling event. And forget all that nonsense about Saskatchewan being flat as a pancake. The farther north you go, the hillier the province becomes.

The first of the two photos shows Marianne Hladun, our union’s National Director for Equal Opportunities, at the start of the event in Saskatoon. (We are assured by Marianne that the beer was for medicinal purposes only.) The second shows the weary but exhilarated cyclists at the completion of their route.

At last count, our intrepid riders had raised $6,100. Those interested in learning more about Nashi or in making a donation can visit http://www.nashi.ca/.

Congratulations to all, and a belated happy birthday to Brenda!

Henriette Pollon marks an amazing four decades as union officer, 45 years as federal employee

(Posted July 25, 2006)

The name Henriette Pollon is instantly recognizable to almost anyone who has been active in the Agriculture Union over the past four decades.

This year, Henriette marks two awesome anniversaries: 40 years as a union officer, and 45 years as an employee of the federal government. Her achievement has challenged everyone – union and management alike – to find ways to suitably mark these virtually unprecedented feats.

The above photo was taken last May, when Henriette’s own Local 50073 paid tribute to her many achievements.

While the term ‘living legend’ is often overused, the description is most apt in Henriette’s case. Her involvement in union activities began in 1966, preceding the following year’s formal founding of the Agriculture Union and the arrival of limited collective bargaining in the federal public service.

She went on to hold almost every conceivable union office, culminating with her election in 1993 as the first-ever woman to hold the position of National Vice-President. Not for nothing did last year’s Convention honour her with a Life Membership in our Union.

Henriette joined the federal public service in 1961, working as a seed analyst in the Winnipeg laboratory of what is now the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Her personal contribution to this area of work was recognized by the Manitoba Branch of The Canadian Seed Growers Association, which made Henriette a Honourary Life Member of that organization.

After ‘only’ 24 years in the seed analyst position, Henriette traded the focused indoors for the great outdoors in becoming an agriculture inputs inspector. She has held this ‘new’ job for a mere 21 years!

Typically, Henriette celebrated her anniversary date as a government worker tramping through the timothy fields of Manitoba, doing what she has done for 45 years – diligently and competently serving the Canadian public.

Halifax member rallies native Ecuadorians against threat of oil interests

(Posted September 18, 2006)

Come the chills of early winter, the collective thoughts of Canadians turn to sunny southern climes. For most of us, this vision includes a cold drink and a good book by a beach or pool.

Not for Marie Makhan of Halifax though.

The Agriculture Union member headed south alright, way south in fact. And for six weeks. But she went far beyond the ordinary, using all her annual leave last winter to teach English to the indigenous people of a remote Andean village nestled in Ecuador’s Mindo Valley.

However, for Marie, the language instruction was but a means to an even more critical end – to better equip the 200 residents of the Mindo Valley to confront the government’s plan to drain off the country’s oil reserves without respecting the fragile ecosystem which is their only source of income.

The government in the capital of Quito, two hours from the Valley, is aggressively extending Trans-Ecuadorian Pipeline in order to increase oil extraction from the resource-rich hinterland. The result, says Marie, is an attack on both the region’s ecosystem and the indigenous inhabitants’ culture.

“Technically, the doubling of oil production would benefit all Ecuadorians. In reality, little benefit reaches the indigenous people outside population centres. Perhaps even worse, the pipeline pathway has cut through supposedly ‘protected’ areas, including the breathtaking Nambillo Mindo Cloud Forest Reserve, one of the most sacred burial grounds in Ecuador.

The photos immediately below show both the villagers modest way or life and the true face of the oil interests: chain-link fences, armed guards and attack dogs meant to exclude rather than involve the local population in the pipeline activities.

“The juxtaposition of the oil camps with the waterfalls, orchids and rare animal species of the ancient forests of the cloud reserve could not be starker,” Marie notes.

“The people of Mindo are not against progress. They know they need to learn English to communicate with tourists, develop ecotourism and start small businesses to support their families and provide for their children’s education. At the same time, they want sustainable economic development that reinforces rather than destroys their traditional way of life.

“I know that our union’s members have a rich store of knowledge, resources and expertise to help the people of this small Andean village. Anyone who wants more information or has some advice is more than welcome to contact me at mariemakhan@hotmail.com.”

2005

Nova Scotia farmers, public join our members in rally to save Nappan Experimental Farm

(Posted June 1, 2005)

Our members fight to keep Nova Scotia 's Nappan Experimental Farm from closing received a big boost on May 29 from Amherst-area farmers and citizens.

Over 300 participants from Halifax to Moncton , and points in between, attended a 'Save the Farm' protest rally. The crowd was drawn from the farming community, labour and general public.

The event was co-sponsored by the Agriculture Union, the Cumberland County Federation of Agriculture, the Nova Scotia Federation of Agriculture and the Public Service Alliance of Canada.

The federal government has said it will close Nappan, a 140-year-old research facility located near Amherst , as a cost-savings measure.

Agriculture Union National President Yves Ducharme sent the rally a strong message of support on behalf of all our members.

"We as a union and a society cannot stand by while the government cuts research dollars. This is a small facility with a great history of research and support to the beef industry and the people at this rally are proof of the support Nappan has earned.

"Balancing the budget on the backs of these workers is not something we will stand for. These employees have given years of service to the beef industry in Atlantic Canada and they have the full support of the Agriculture Union in attempting to keep their jobs at Nappan."

Jeannie Baldwin, PSAC Regional Executive Vice President for Atlantic Canada, also spoke to the need to keep Nappan open.

"Whose interests does this closure ultimately serve? Certainly not the farming community. Nor the Canadian public, who rely on the farming community to put food on their tables. And not small communities, such as the Amherst area, that have come to rely on the income these public service jobs provide".

The rally received wide media coverage throughout the province. Thousands have already signed a Nova Scotia Federation of Agriculture petition calling on the Liberal government to stop the Nappan closure.

Bill Casey, local Conservative Member of Parliament, said the Farm should not close until the Minister of Agriculture comes to Nappan to see for himself the impact of the potential closure.

Put on the spot, the Liberal hopeful nominated to run against Casey in the next federal election said the decision by his own Party was wrong.

EO Committee co-sponsors Human Rights Forum in Vancouver

(Posted December 6, 2006)

British Columbia members of the Agriculture Union Equal Opportunities Committee are co-sponsoring a December 15 Human Rights Forum in Vancouver.

The evening is being organized jointly with the BC Region of our bargaining agent - the Public Service Alliance of Canada. In addition to the annual December 15 recognition of Human Rights Day, the event will also mark and/or celebrate a number of other important human rights days in December:

          • World AIDS Day;

          • International Day for the Abolition of Slavery;

          • International Day for Disabled Persons;

          • National Day of Remembrance & Action on Violence against Women; and

          • International Migrants' Day.

This celebration of human right is being held at the Maritime Labour Centre - 1880 Triumph Street , Vancouver from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. The event will be opened by a Burrard Inlet Elder, a guest of Agriculture Union member Jeanna Louie.

A variety of human rights activists have been invited to speak. While the event itself is free and open to all, a dinner is also being planned at a per person cost of $12.

For further information about the event, or to purchase tickets, Agriculture Union members in the greater Vancouver area are invited to contact Jennie Chu, Agriculture Union Regional Equal Opportunities Representative, either at (778) 230-3987, or at jenniemchu@hotmail.com.