CORRECTED, Sept. 28: Manitoba’s Tory government has replaced nearly the entire board table at its Crown crop insurance and farm financing agency.
Agriculture Minister Ralph Eichler on Monday named Darlingford, Man. grain grower and accountant Jim Wilson and former federal agriculture minister Charlie Mayer as the new chair and vice-chair respectively for Manitoba Agricultural Services Corp. (MASC).
Wilson, a former board chairman for Prairie grain handler Agricore United, now part of Glencore’s Viterra business, also currently serves as vice-chairman of Canterra Seeds and secretary on the board of the Canadian International Grains Institute (Cigi).
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Mayer, a former grain grower and cattle producer who now lives at St. Francois Xavier, served as the MP for the Portage la Prairie area from 1979 to 1993, as minister of state for the Canadian Wheat Board and for grains and oilseeds, and in 1993 as minister of agriculture for then-prime ministers Brian Mulroney and Kim Campbell.
Eichler’s only holdover from the previous government’s MASC board is former Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP) president Doug Chorney, a grain and vegetable grower at East Selkirk and a MASC director since last year.
Also joining the board are Roblin agronomist and ag consultant Karen Fatteicher; Warren seed grower Suszanne Jones, a former director with MASC predecessor Manitoba Agriculture Credit Corp.; Hemp Oil Canada agronomist Darrell McElroy; St. Eustache farmer Laurent Ponsin; and Minto farmer Diane Rourke.
Leaving the board are Grandview, Man. farmer and vice-chair Larry Bohdanovich, a member of Friends of the Canadian Wheat Board; former provincial agriculture minister Len Harapiak; former Manitoba Pork Council vice-chairman Bryan Ferriss; Beausejour farmer Mary Johnson; and Strathclair rancher Calvin Martin. Frieda Krpan, the board’s chair, resigned her post earlier this year. — AGCanada.com Network
CORRECTION, Sept. 28, 2016: An earlier version of this article incorrectly identified Diane Rourke as a farmer from Starbuck, Man.
