Katie DeBlock Boersma

The applicants applied for an order waiving the requirement to register their farm with and make a prescribed payment to a farm organization on the basis of their religious conviction and belief in Buddhism.

The Tribunal applied a three-pronged test and found that the applicants' beliefs were genuinely held, religious in nature, and the actual cause of their objection.

The application was granted.

The appellant appealed the election of a delegate to the Board of Directors of the Ontario Pork Producers Marketing Board, arguing she was not an eligible 'producer' under Ontario Regulation 403/10.

The delegate had sold her primary hog operation but continued to raise a small number of hogs for farmgate sales.

The Tribunal found that the delegate met the regulatory definition of a producer at the time of the election, as she owned and produced hogs on a property in the relevant zone.

The appeal was denied.

The Ontario Sheep Marketing Agency brought a preliminary motion to dismiss an appeal by two non-resident sheep producers regarding the collection of license fees.

The Agency argued the producers lacked a sufficient interest in the subject matter of the appeal.

The Tribunal dismissed the motion, finding that the producers were aggrieved persons who were required to pay fees and thus had a sufficient interest to be entitled to a hearing on the merits.

The applicant municipality applied to the Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Appeal Tribunal under section 76(1) of the Drainage Act for permission to procure an engineer's report to vary the 1924 Schedule of Assessment for a municipal drain.

The Tribunal found that changes in land use, severances, and the fact that only one-third of the watershed area was assessed justified a variation.

As no assessed persons objected, the Tribunal granted the requested permission.

The appellant appealed an engineer's report for the Michener Municipal Drain, arguing that the proposed works should be paused until improvements to the downstream Wignell Drain were completed to prevent exacerbated flooding on his golf course.

The Tribunal allowed the appeal in part, finding that the Wignell Drain currently lacks sufficient capacity to act as an outlet for the increased flow from the Michener Drain.

The Tribunal ordered that the Michener Drain works be paused until the Wignell Drain report and necessary outlet improvements are completed.

The appellant's request to reduce engineering costs was dismissed for lack of jurisdiction, as no prerequisite appeal had been made to the Court of Revision.

The appellant appealed an Engineer's Report under the Drainage Act, challenging the assessment of costs for the replacement and maintenance of a privately installed culvert (Culvert 8).

The appellant argued the culvert was merely for the convenience of the downstream landowner to access its bisected properties and was not rendered necessary by the drainage works.

The Tribunal agreed, finding that the culvert was not necessary for the drain itself and that the downstream properties had alternative road access.

The appeal was granted, and the costs for the culvert were ordered to be assessed entirely to the downstream landowner as a special benefit under section 24 of the Drainage Act.

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.