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Tuesday May 19 2015 7 INDUSTRY AGRICTULTURE 15053CF0 Le gouvernement du Canada vous offre de nouveaux moyens pour vous aider et pour aider votre famille conomiser de limpt. Des moyens comme ceux-ci La baisse dimpt pour les familles Les couples qui ont des enfants de moins de 18 ans peuvent dsormais fractionner leurs revenus cest--dire en transfrer une partie du conjoint au revenu le plus lev lautre conjoint aux ns de limpt. Le compte dpargne libre dimpt compter de 2015 vous pourrez gagner un revenu de placement plus lev que jamais labri de limpt. Conservez une plus grande part de vos conomies ou consacrez-les aux choses qui vous importent le plus. DES CONOMIES DIMPT POUR VOUS ET VOTRE FAMILLE. Sous rserve de lapprobation du Parlement. POUR PLUS DE RENSEIGNEMENTS CONSULTEZ LE SITE PL ANDACTION.GC.CA. Visions of fresh food dancing in Northerners heads Agriculture consultations collect priorities of NWT growers By MEAGAN WOHLBERG Farmers gardeners and agricultural en- thusiasts had their say last week in the South Slave with the first round of consultations aimed at creating an agricultural strategy for the NWT. The visioning exercises put on by the territorial government and facilitated by agriculture consultants Serecon and Planet North took stock of where people are at in terms of growing food in Fort Simpson Hay River and Fort Smith and what theyd like to see if they were sud- denly transported to their community 10 years from now. A year-round local greenhouse fresh local fruits and vegetables for the food bank and for elders and community fruit trees - a fruit orchard with local species Lynn Buckley gave as part of her commu- nity vision. Greater access to better quality fresh produce and greater engagement with food and through that engagement with the en- vironment we live in expressed Rebecca Cabell a member of Fort Smiths sprouting Garden Society. Access to fresh local fruits and vegeta- bles for Northern communities especially the more isolated ones because the cost is ridiculous shared Sadele Paulette who said such access would address health is- sues like diabetes. Fresh food has certainly been a major theme noted Jerry Bouma one of the con- sultants facilitating the sessions. People really want to see more fresh food - vegetables and fruits - produced lo- cally he said whether that be personal or in community gardens or greenhouses. People want to see a lot more than is cur- rently produced. Along with the hunger for more local pro- duce Bouma said people are craving more education and infrastructure and are excited about the side benefits agriculture could bring to the territory. People want a lot more knowledge on how to produce food he said whether that be a go-to instructor with the knowledge or a train-the-trainer program for communities gardening education in schools or help with the marketing side of things. On the infrastructure side people have ex- pressed interest in community greenhouses farmers markets storage areas like root cel- lars a commercial kitchen for processing foods a seed library and even an abattoir for slaughtering animals. In Hay River the well-attended meeting the night before brought forward many of the same feelings of people wishing for more self-reliance and wanting practical changes to make that happen. I want to be a farmer and I dont want to wait until I grow up said Kate Latour who lives in Hay Rivers old town and grows veg- etables from raised bed plots. I want to be able to feed my own family and not rely on food from a truck. Many emphasized the importance of small- scale operations and improved co-operation and connectivity between regions. To me partnership is key said Kevin Wallington of Polar Egg Hay Rivers com- mercial poultry and egg farm. We can- not afford to have region against region... We need to encourage everyone to work together. We either work together or we die alone. The meetings also left time to chat about barriers and ways in which those can be lifted to realize peoples visions. Major challenges identified were access to land in many ways impeded by bureaucracy access to fertile black soil access to af- fordable training equipment seeds and plants and most fundamentally a lack of continuous coordinated support in communities to help people get started and keep going. Bylaws are restrictive even if you have a lot of land said Orlanda Patterson of Hay River who said she wants to be able to feed her family year-round even through the win- ter. Theres a limit on how many animals youre allowed to have. Id like to be able to be selfsufficient on my own property and grow my own food said Leon Bouchard who has chick- ens and rabbits even though the bylaws dont allow. He said the town needs to change bylaws to allow animals on peo- ples properties. Over in Fort Smith Bruce Gudeit agreed and said if growers unite they will have more influence over their mayor and council. A unified voice gives you strength he said. Working with local government is going to be easier than taking on the terri- torial government. The need for a specific territory-wide plan around agriculture grew out of previous consultations on the NWT Economic Op- portunities Strategy which aimed at tar- geting ways to diversify the territorial economy. They heard over and over again were interested in agriculture and it wasnt just Hay River or just Fort Smith right across the territory at every consultation there were a few comments around agriculture and the desire to build an industry - really a desire to grow your own food said Markus Weber another consultant helping to facili- tate the meetings. Additional consultations are scheduled for this week in Norman Wells on May 19 Fort Good Hope on May 20 Inuvik on May 21 and Yellowknife on May 26. With files from Scott Clouthier Pat left and Shari Burnstad write down their visions of what agriculture in Hay River will look like 10 years from now. The sisters who organize the towns community garden were two of the dozen or so Hay Riverites who attended a facilitated discussion about agriculture in the NWT on May 12. Rebecca Cabell left and Lynn Buckley chat with agriculture consultant Markus Weber following a facilitated discussion on the future of agriculture in the NWT held in Fort Smith on May 13. The consultants will visit Norman Wells Fort Good Hope Inuvik and Yellowknife over the next week. PhotoMeaganWohlberg PhotoScottClouthier