Farmers’ market is unhappy at Lansdowne
Tensions, falling revenue leave vendors split on OFM’s future
With contract talks with the city pending, the Ottawa Farmers’ Market is divided by petitions from members wanting the president’s resignation, demands for sanctions against rule-bending vendors and irritation with the way their de facto landlord, Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group, treats the group.
“The farmers’ market is in crisis,” said one member, Ida Vaillancourt.
Vaillancourt was one of about 50 market members who attended a meeting Sunday called in response to concerns on the part of some vendors that others had stayed open last Sunday, Aug. 30, in defiance of a city order and the direction of OSEG that the market close at 1 p.m. — rather than the normal 3 p.m. — because of a football game at Lansdowne Park that day. But what made the matter more complicated — and the meeting more emotional — was that the stall of the OFM’s president, Andy Terauds, remained open beyond the stipulated closing time.
The Ottawa Farmers’ Market, with more than 120 or so vendors, operates in Aberdeen Square in Lansdowne Park. Its regular hours are Wednesdays and Fridays from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. The Sunday hours are 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. However, under the current contract between the OFM and the municipality, city officials can adjust the closing as well as the opening hours if deemed necessary. A few days before Aug. 30, OSEG informed vendors they were expected to close at 1 p.m. and be clear of the site in time for a football game scheduled for later in the afternoon.
The situation has prompted some vendors to question whether Lansdowne Park is the best place for their operations. “The real issue here is our relationship with OSEG,” said Paul Helm, who operates the Savoury Pursuits stall.
“After what happened last weekend, if that’s not a signal to the mayor that this venue doesn’t work for this farmers’ market ...,” said Vaillancourt, noting that she’s seen her income drop to less than $1,000 a day from $3,000 a day since the OFM moved from Brewer Park to Lansdowne Park. “The market (in Lansdowne Park) is falling apart.”
During the meeting, Terauds explained it was not his intention to violate the closing-time restrictions. The reason his stall was not shut down and packed away at 1 p.m. was because he was representing the OFM at the annual Savour Ottawa Harvest Table dinner that Sunday afternoon. He said he removed his stall as soon as he was able to leave the event.
Terauds said he’d offered to resign if that was what the board wanted after some members objected to his apparent hypocrisy. However, while emphasizing that his breach of the closing time was “unintentional,” he also warned the members that with contract negotiations between the OFM and the city due to begin this month, it would be a mistake to lose his knowledge and expertise over “petty things.”
“I’m the best person to lead the board forward,” Terauds said.
At the same time, though, he acknowledged that vendors have a “whole list of grievances” regarding their treatment by the city. Last Sunday’s defiance of the city closing order reflected this frustration, he said, adding that the question of the city’s ability to adjust vendor hours needs to be included in the upcoming talks.
Some members, however, argued that regardless of his intentions, Terauds had been implicated in the actions of those half-dozen or so vendors who ignored the closing requirement, and that, in the words of a petition being circulated Sunday afternoon, would “impair his ability” to negotiate on behalf of the OFM.
Some also argued that those vendors who defied the closing order undermined the OFM’s reputation.
Vaillancourt pointed out that she, too, had an invitation to the Savour Ottawa event, but had chosen not to go because she was responsible for closing down her stall at the required time.
One of those vendors who didn’t close — and who also defended Terauds as “indefatigable” — was Robin Turner, of Roots and Shoots Farm. He struck a defiant note, saying that many vendors are angry about their situation at Lansdowne Park, particularly given that “sales are way down from last year.”
Turner, a past president of the organization, also pointed out that there is nothing in the OFM’s bylaws stipulating members close or open at a particular time.
“We did not break the rules in staying late,” he said.
The meeting ended without a resignation or any final resolution regarding calls for sanctions against the time-offending vendors. There weren’t enough OFM board members at the meeting to form a quorum that would allow binding decisions to be made.