BCFGA to consider exit plan — in case one’s ever needed
Special meeting set for today will see delegates voting on 9 resolutions
Okanagan orchardists will decide today what to do with BC Fruit Growers’ assets in the unlikely event the 127-year-old association ever ceases to exist.
Wind-up proposals include donating the money from the sale of land and business ventures to Okanagan College for ongoing research in the tree-fruit sector.
“We’re certainly not expecting anything’s going to happen to the association,” BCFGA president Fred Steele said Wednesday.
“This is more of a ‘what if’ question, trying to sort out in advance what would happen to our assets if we were to fold, than to leave it to chaos that would probably ensue if we didn’t have a plan,” Steele said.
Nine resolutions will be voted on by BCFGA delegates during a special meeting being held today in Kelowna.
Many are housekeeping in nature, such as one to change the threshold for approval of special resolutions from 75 per cent member support to 66 per cent support, in line with new provisions of the B.C. Societies Act.
But one proposal is to change the terms of office for BCFGA executives. Instead of each position, such as president and vice-president, being elected each year in February, the suggestion is to change to two-year terms, with a maximum of three terms per position.
So, for example, no one could be BCFGA president for more than six years.
“I think that’s ample time for anyone to be president,” said Steele, a four-year president who is leaning toward not running for reelection in February.
Another proposal is to open BCFGA membership to any member of a family that owns an orchard, not just the person listed as the owner for legal reasons. “The purpose of the proposed change is to encourage participation and development of the next farming generation,” the resolution states.
The BCFGA has about 500 members, but only the two dozen who were named as delegates from different Valley regions are able to vote on the resolutions at today’s special meeting.
Among other things, the BCFGA provides agricultural support services to growers and lobbies the government on their behalf for things like grants to replant orchards with higher-yielding varieties, crop insurance and income stabilization.