Canadian Farmers With Disabilities Develop Long Term Plan

"Canadian farmers who have suffered debilitating farm accidents or diseases should be able to receive needed support and information in future as a result of advances made in a recent planning session,” states Carl Palmer, Chairman of the Canadian Farmers With Disabilities Registry (CFWDR). Representatives from the Canadian Farmers With Disabilities Registry from across Canada met in Halifax on June 20th and 21st, 2003 Their purpose was to define what their organization’s main goals should be for implementation during the next five years.

With project funding assistance from the Canadian Agricultural Safety Program II the CFWDR obtained critical planning guidance by facilitator, Jim Brown from Strive Inc., a Guelph based firm focused on building better boards. Mr. Brown was able to draw out some very pointed recommendations as to what the programs should be designed to do for people suffering disabilities. One of the most important points decided by those attending was that this organization should also put resources into trying to prevent these accidents from happening in the first place.

The organization will work on obtaining federal funding to ensure that relevant information and services can be made available where needed. The ultimate aim is to provide farmers with the courage to believe that they can remain as active farmers even after a debilitating accident or injury has occurred.

The organization will also be actively involved in lobbying for programs needed by farmers to enable their farms to survive during the period when the farmer is in the midst of recovering from an accident or disease. The organization has already been successful in convincing a major national farm lending agency to make a disability insurance program available to farmers who take out farm loans through this agency.

The Canadian Farmers With Disabilities plans to establish active provincial groups in each province across Canada. “It is our intention that a representative from this organization will visit farmers needing support and hopefully prove to them that they can continue farming even though they may need a few modifications or changes to equipment, buildings, etc. Problems do not seem to be so insurmountable when you have someone in a similar situation that you can call on when the going gets tough”, states Mr. Palmer.