Quebec legislators passing Bill 28 makes this possible
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
A newly passed law in Quebec will give a general farm organization the authority to change the way it collects dues from farms.
Quebec legislators passed Bill 28 on Nov. 9, paving the way for the Union des producteurs agricoles (UPA) to begin this work.
Andre Lamontagne, Quebec’s minister of agriculture, introduced the bill in June.
Previously, the UPA collected dues at flat rates based on the legal status of the farm business.
And some producers paid a double contribution. This happened “when several agricultural producers are groups within the same company....,” the UPA’s website says.
But now, “the amount of the contribution may be calculated according to the volume of the product marketed, the area under cultivation or operation or other equivalent accepted by the Régie,” the bill says.
The Régie refers to the Régie des marches agricoles et alimentaires du Quebec.
That’s the province’s marketing regulator for farm products. And any proposed regulations would need its approval.
The UPA is pleased with Bill 28’s passage.
The legislation aligns with what farmers have been asking for, said Martin Caron, president of the UPA.
“It will now be possible for us to count on a fairer formula, as producers have been demanding for several years,” he said in a translated Nov. 9 statement. “There is every reason, from now on, to foresee the future of agricultural unionism and collective action with renewed confidence.”