On Friday, Ontario's Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Jeff Leal appointed Elmer Buchanan as Trustee of the Ontario Processing Vegetable Growers Board and gave him all powers of the board.
The move was made to accelerate stalled talks between the province's tomato growers and processors.
Steve Lamoure, President of the Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Processors Association, believes the motion creates an excellent opportunity for improvement in the value chain.
He says he looks forward to working with the Ontario Processing Vegetable Growers and their new trustee to put together the details for a new framework.
Minister Leal said he needed to act to prevent thousands of jobs and an entire crop from being lost this summer.
He also pointed out Buchanan will have no other powers and will be replaced once elections are held later this year.
