Regulating agrologists in the public interest

Kerri-Sue Lang (kslang@eagle.ca)
Tue, 7 Jan 1997 16:27:51 -0500

Hello folks,

I'm a confessed lurker and have been reading this list and a few others for
months now without contributing. Now, I wonder what all my favourite
grazing colleagues think about a specific ongoing issue in Ontario, Canada.
Please read on!

In the province of Ontario, the Ontario Institute of Agrologists has been
generating a lot of flack due its efforts to establish a mandatory Act to
Regulate Agrologists. In a very brief nutshell, their proposal is to
request legislation that would create the College of Professional
Agrologists of Ontario (CPAO). The CPAO would be responsible for licensing,
regulating and ultimately disciplining those practicing agrology. Much
debate has ensued about exactly what an agrologist is, who would need to be
a member of the CPAO, the examination process and a hundred other issues.
More fundamentally, however, the debate has concentrated primarily on
whether or not a mandatory Act is necessary or even desirable. The vocal
masses are almost unanimously opposed.

I have not taken a position although I have been thinking about it for a
long time. As a self-employed public relations consultant and ag.
journalist for the last twelve years, it seems I have lost the ability to
formulate an opinion. Just kidding!

Currently, I am in the last leg of a two-year Advanced Agricultural
Leadership Program. I have chosen this topic to chew up and spit out as my
issue analysis project. I have plenty of input and opinion from Ontario, a
limited amount from outside the province and am now currently trying to
discover what kind of similar acts are in place around the rest of the
Globe. Are they relevant? How and why were they established? How are the
rules and regulations enforced? Who foots the bill? Etc., etc., etc.

Any input --- factual or emotional --- will be accepted and greatly appreciated.

On another note, we run a hundred head of beef cattle and a few dozen sheep.
I keep the sheep primarily for the training (a.k.a. amusement) of my border
collies. We also grow approximately 300 acres of cash crops. This is a
wonderful list! I have learned a tonne of stuff over the past 6 months and
have really enjoyed 'meeting' the folks who make this list work. Thanks!

KS