Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (Ontario)

Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs
Ministère de L'Agriculture, de L'Alimentation et des Affairs Rurales
Government ministry overview
Formed	March 9, 1994 (1994-03-09)
Preceding Government ministry	Ministry of Agriculture and Food
Jurisdiction	Government of Ontario
Headquarters	1 Stone Road West, Guelph, Ontario, Canada
Minister responsible	Carol Mitchell, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs
Website
www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/index.html

Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) is an Ontarian government ministry responsible for the food, agriculture and rural sectors of the Canadian province of Ontario.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs helps to build a stronger agri-food sector by investing in the development and transfer of innovative technologies, retaining and attracting investment, developing markets, providing regulatory oversight, and providing effective risk management tools.

The ministry also helps enable rural Ontario to build strong, vital communities with diversified economies and healthy social and environmental climates.^[1]

The current Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs is the Honourable Carol Mitchell.

Past Ministers include:

Elmer Buchanan Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (March 9, 1994—June 26, 1995) and Minister of Agriculture and Food (October 1, 1990—March 9, 1994)
Noble Villeneuve (June 26, 1995—June 17, 1999)^[2]
Ernie Hardeman (June 1999-February 2001)
Brian Coburn (February 2001-April 2002)
Helen Johns (April 2002-October 2003)
Steve Peters (October 2003-June 2005)
Leona Dombrowsky (June 2005-January 2010)

Ministry agencies

The Ministry is responsible for the following agencies^[3]:

Agricorp
Agricultural Research Institute of Ontario
Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Appeal Tribunal
Board of Negotiation
Council of the College of Veterinarians of Ontario
Grain Financial Protection Board
Livestock Financial Protection Board
Livestock Medicines Advisory Committee
Normal Farm Practices Protection Board
Ontario Agristability Review Committee
Ontario Farm Products Marketing Commission
Ontario Food Terminal Board
Rural Economic Development Advisory Panel

References

^ Ontario INFO GO Directory
^ "MPP Noble Villeneuve". Legislative Assembly of Ontario. http://www.ontla.on.ca/web/members/members_all_detail.do?locale=en&ID=360. Retrieved 2011-06-25.
^ "Public Appointments Secretariat, Ontario, Canada - AGRICULTURE, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS". Ontario Public Appointments Secretariat. http://www.pas.gov.on.ca/scripts/en/BoardsList.asp?minID=35. Retrieved 2011-06-24.

External links

Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs website