M E M O / N O T E D E S E R V I C E

To / Destinataire	Chair and Members of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee/ Président et membres du Comité de l'agriculture et des affaires rurales	File/N° de fichier: ACS2010-ICS-PGM-0182
From / Expéditeur	John L. Moser, General Manager/ Directeur général Planning and Growth Management/ Urbanisme et Gestion de la croissance	Contact Person/Personne-ressource : Derrick Moodie, Manager/Gestionnaire, Development Review-Rural services/Examen des projets d'aménagement-Services ruraux, Planning and Growth Management/Urbanisme et Gestion de la croissance (613) 580-2424, 15134 Derrick.Moodie@ottawa.ca
Subject / Objet	City of Ottawa response to OMAFRA Wildlife Conflicts Discussion Paper/ Réponse de la Ville d’Ottawa au livre vert sur les conflits avec la faune du MAAAR	Date : September 15, 2010 Le 15 septembre 2010

The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA), through the Livestock, Poultry and Honey Bee Protection Act, establishes guidelines for compensating farmers that have livestock or poultry killed or mortally wounded by wildlife such as coyotes.

When farmers suffer livestock damage, the municipality is responsible to send out an appointed livestock valuer to assess the damage, compensate the farmer as per the Act, and then receive funding from the province for the compensation paid. In fiscal year 2009-2010, the City of Ottawa paid compensation for 251 animals (cattle, sheep, goats, and poultry) through this program. The Rural Affairs Office coordinates this program on behalf of the City and pays for the services of eight livestock valuers on a “per call” basis.

The Ontario government is currently proposing updates to the guidelines, including new programs and tools, changes in compensation levels, and changes to the municipal delivery of the program. The province has posted a “Wildlife Conflicts discussion paper” on the OMAFRA website and invited comment by the public and municipalities by 1 October 2010. The website location is as follows:

http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/livestock/discussionpaper20aug2010.htm

The Rural Affairs Office will be responding to the OMAFRA discussion paper with the following comments:

Improve Awareness and Information Resources for Producers:

1) OMAFRA plans on producing and making available several fact sheets and tools to assist farmers in managing wildlife conflict, including creating a web portal to centralize information and educational workshops for agricultural producers. The Rural Affairs Office feels that this is an excellent way to help farmers work to reduce losses and will link through the Rural Connections portal (ottawa.ca/rural) to any information made available by the province and coordinate with OMAFRA to present workshops to rural Ottawa producers.

Proposed changes to compensation:

2) OMAFRA proposes that livestock would be valued at the time of death and no consideration is given to future or potential value. The current process allows for farmers to be compensated for a percentage of future value. Compensating at the value at the time of death will be a cause for concern, especially for beef farmers losing calves, since they will be receiving significantly reduced compensation. Coyotes primarily kill calves, not weaned cattle. It is noted by the Rural Affairs Office that this change will make the livestock valuer’s job easier since there will be no percentage formula to apply as per the current formula, however the reduction in payments to beef farmers will be considerable.

3) OMAFRA proposes to revise the prescribed maximum compensation rates to reflect current livestock values. This change is supported as a common complaint from farmers heard by the Rural Affairs Office and our valuers is that the current maximums are too low, out of date and do not accurately reflect current prices.

4) OMAFRA proposes that payments would be limited to the lesser of 80 per cent of the market value of the animal or 80 per cent of the prescribed maximum. Providing only 80 per cent of market value for weaned (adult) animals will, in most cases, depending on the new maximums set, reduce the compensation from the current full value (which are using a presumably lower maximum level). Any reduction in payments will not be well received by farmers. In addition, the Rural Affairs Office feels that by introducing a policy that farmers can only be compensated to 80 per cent of the “maximum” is confusing and disingenuous. The maximum limit to compensation should be the value in the guidelines – if this formula is applied then the use of the term “maximum” is misleading, since producers will never get more than 80 per cent of the top limit value. The Rural Affairs Office proposes that the maximum be just that – the maximum limit without any formula to be applied.

5) OMAFRA proposes that there would be a minimum of $50 in damage to be eligible for a claim. The Rural Affairs Office feels that this is appropriate so that the expense of dispatching a valuer is not incurred for minor claims.

Proposed changes to claim process:

6) OMAFRA proposes requiring producers who make multiple compensation claims to enroll in a wildlife best management practices workshop before being eligible for subsequent claims. The Rural Affairs Office feels that this is an excellent idea to assist frequent claimants and reduce repeat visits by valuers to the same farm.

7) OMAFRA proposes that if the valuer determines that the evidence is inconclusive, but the probable cause of loss is from an eligible predator, the producer would receive one-half payment. The Rural Affairs Office supports this change, as it would change the current “all or nothing” scenario and make it possible for the valuer to take a ‘common sense’ to provide some compensation where deemed reasonable.

Propose changes to municipal delivery of the program:

8) OMAFRA proposes improving and updating valuer training including the creation of training materials which would be made available to municipalities on-line and through DVDs, as well as in group training opportunities. The Rural Affairs Office supports this change and would coordinate training with our current valuers to ensure they are educated with any new guidelines to be introduced.

9) OMAFRA proposes that municipalities could be eligible to receive a portion of their administration costs for claims submitted to OMAFRA through a streamlined process. The Rural Affairs Office supports any changes to streamline the process as it is currently very paper-intensive and requires multiple sign off stages. Many municipalities deduct administrative expenses from the cheques sent to farmers, but the City of Ottawa currently absorbs the administrative costs of the program. If OMAFRA were to provide compensation for the City’s administrative costs, this would have a positive impact on the Rural Affairs Office budget.

In conclusion, the proposed administrative changes to the program are perceived by the Rural Affairs Office to be generally positive, and will assist the Province, farmers, livestock valuers and the City of Ottawa to deliver a more efficient program and give farmers more tools to reduce their current predation issues. However, in some cases it appears that payable amounts will be reduced and this will meet with resistance from livestock producers due to decreased compensation.

Original signed by

John L. Moser