David Stevens

The Appellant appealed an Engineer's Report concerning the Hewitt's Creek Drain under section 48(1) of the Drainage Act, arguing that the benefits were not commensurate with costs, the works should be modified, and his allowance was inadequate.

At the hearing, the Appellant requested an adjournment, which was denied due to ample prior time and failure to comply with disclosure orders.

The Appellant subsequently refused to present any evidence or be sworn in.

Based on the uncontradicted evidence of the Engineer, the Tribunal found the benefits commensurate with costs, declined to modify the works, and found the allowance reasonable.

The appeal was dismissed.

The appellants appealed under section 64 of the Drainage Act regarding the construction of the Desroches Municipal Drain across their farm.

They claimed damages for crop loss and site cleanup, alleging the contractor commenced work in wet conditions contrary to an agreed-upon start date, failed to separate topsoil, and enlarged the working corridor.

The Tribunal dismissed the appeal, finding no evidence of an agreed start date and concluding that the construction and site restoration were completed in accordance with the Engineer's Report.

The Tribunal also noted that several of the appellants' claims regarding the drain's design and crop damage allowances should have been appealed earlier under section 48 of the Act.

The applicant municipality applied under s. 76(1) of the Drainage Act for permission to procure an engineer's report to vary the assessment for a municipal drain.

The tribunal found that conditions had changed, including new storm drainage infrastructure bringing unassessed lands into the watershed, extensive cleanout activities, and land use changes.

The respondent municipality consented to the application, and no assessed persons objected.

The tribunal granted permission to procure the report.

The appellants, dairy farmers, appealed a reconsideration decision of the Dairy Farmers of Ontario (DFO) refusing to replace their assigned milk transporter.

The dispute arose after an altercation between the appellant and a bulk tank milk grader, which led to rejected milk pickups and the appellant signing an undertaking.

Although the specific grader was permanently removed from the appellants' route prior to the hearing, the appellants continued to seek a new transporter.

The Tribunal dismissed the appeal, finding that the appellants failed to prove on a balance of probabilities that the transporter should be replaced, noting the DFO's responsibility to minimize transportation costs province-wide.

The appellants appealed the Engineer's Report regarding the McGee Drain under the Drainage Act.

One appellant reached an agreement with the municipality to revise the report and withdrew his appeal.

The remaining appellants argued their assessment should be reduced because the drainage issues were caused by another landowner.

The Tribunal dismissed the appeals, finding the assessments in the revised Engineer's Report to be fair and reasonable, and adopted the revised report.

The Association of Ontario Chicken Processors appealed a reconsideration decision of the Ontario Broiler Hatching Egg & Chick Commission regarding a new Cost of Production formula.

The appellant sought six amendments to the formula, including changes to the prime rate calculation, exclusion of depreciation from working capital, adjustments to farm labour benefit and wage rates, use of a real rate of return, and addition of a risk premium.

After hearing extensive expert testimony from all parties, the Tribunal found the expert evidence presented by the respondent and third party to be more reliable and acceptable on all six issues.

The appeal was dismissed.

The appellants appealed the assessments in an Engineer's Report prepared under section 78 of the Drainage Act for the improvement of the Dell Drain Outlet.

The proposed work involved extending the outlet to address severe gully erosion on downstream properties.

The Tribunal found that the erosion was primarily caused by water flowing from upstream lands and that the drain currently lacked a sufficient outlet.

The Tribunal amended the Schedule of Assessment, determining that the costs should be apportioned as 26% Benefit to the adjacent downstream properties and 74% Outlet Liability to the upstream lands and roads, and assessed a Special Benefit to lands subsequently connected to the drain.

The Appellants sought to appeal a drainage assessment to the Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Appeal Tribunal.

The Appellants had attended the Court of Revision and made oral submissions but had not filed a written appeal within the required timeframe, despite being advised of the option to file a late appeal.

The Tribunal held a pre-hearing conference to determine its jurisdiction.

The Tribunal found that because the Appellants did not file an appeal with the Court of Revision, they were not parties to an appeal before it.

Consequently, under section 54(1) of the Drainage Act, the Tribunal lacked jurisdiction to hear the appeal.

The Appellants, dairy farmers, appealed a decision by the Director of Regulatory Compliance imposing a level 4 penalty for high somatic cell counts in their milk.

The Appellants argued that several milk samples were rendered unsuitable for testing due to circumstances outside their control, and requested that favourable test results be imputed for those missing samples to reduce their demerit percentage below the penalty threshold.

The Tribunal found that the available test results were representative of the milk offered for sale and that it lacked the authority under the Raw Milk Quality Program Policies to impute test results.

The appeal was dismissed.

The appellants appealed a decision of the Egg Farmers of Ontario denying a request to reverse the cancellation of Quota Session QT-3-2018.

After hearing the evidence of the appellants, their counsel advised the Tribunal that all appellants wished to withdraw their appeals.

The appeals were withdrawn and no costs were sought.

Two landowners appealed their assessments for the proposed South Tributary Municipal Drain.

The first appellant argued his property could not be developed and should not be assessed, but provided no evidence to support changing the Engineer's Report; his appeal was dismissed.

The second appellant argued his properties drained south and did not use the proposed drain's outlet.

The Tribunal accepted the second appellant's photographic and topographic evidence, ordering his properties removed from the drainage area and their assessments reallocated to the road authority.

The appellants appealed a decision by the Dairy Farmers of Ontario (DFO) removing them from the New Producer Program (NPP) queue.

The DFO determined the appellants were ineligible because the husband held voting shares in his parents' dairy corporation, making him an existing producer under the Quota Policy.

The appellants argued the shareholding was minimal and they made an honest mistake on the application.

The Tribunal found the husband was a producer under the policy and that the appellants' mistake did not constitute unique or exceptional circumstances warranting an exemption.

The Tribunal also found it lacked jurisdiction to award damages.

The appeal was dismissed.

The Association of Ontario Turkey Processors appealed a decision by the Turkey Farmers of Ontario regarding the scheduled end date of a COVID-19 Emergency Fund license fee.

Prior to the hearing, the parties reached a resolution.

The Tribunal issued a consent order detailing a weekly reduction methodology for the license fee until its complete extinguishment on April 26, 2021, and dismissed the appeal.

The Union des cultivateurs franco-ontariens (UCFO) applied to the Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Appeal Tribunal for reaccreditation and eligibility for special funding under the Farm Registration and Farm Organizations Funding Act, 1993.

The Tribunal reviewed the documentary evidence, including UCFO's Triennial Report, financial statements, and letters of support from other accredited farm organizations.

Finding that UCFO met all the statutory and regulatory criteria, the Tribunal granted the application, confirming UCFO's eligibility for special funding for a three-year period ending November 8, 2023.