(THREAD) My open letter to the Premier, Ag Minister, and my MLA inviting them to reconsider the recent decision to close the Ag Offices across rural Manitoba.

1/ The recent announcement that the Altona Agriculture and MASC offices were closing along with 20 other rural locations

2/ across Manitoba is immensely disappointing. These offices provide vital services to the Manitoba farmers who generate over $6.4 Billion in sales and are responsible for 1 in 10 jobs and 12% of total economic activity in the province. The economic activity and jobs supported

3/ by Agriculture are hugely consequential to rural Manitoba, many areas of which are struggling with less and less support from the Provincial government. In the Town of Altona, which is consistently growing in both business activity and population, we have seen

4/ Manitoba Housing Offices, RCMP Offices, Manitoba Hydro Offices, and now the Agriculture Offices closed in favour of centralizing government jobs in larger centers or Winnipeg. This is not due to less demand or a shrinking population, it is due to deliberate policy decisions

5/ made by a centralized Government in Winnipeg or Ottawa. We have many residents concerned that the School Division, Manitoba Highways facility, and the Hospital’s ER is next.

6/ It is not just a matter of how services are provided. Granted, technological changes allow for services to be provided in alternative ways to residents of smaller towns, or in this case, the farmers that surround them. In this particular case the Manitoba Agriculture

7/ Services Corporation has shifted much of its work to online portals and emails over the last number of years, and obviously that can continue from new mega-centers. However, we have all experienced the different levels of service between a local representative who knows you,

8/ and an anonymous customer service rep at a call center. The local employees working in these 21 offices across Manitoba know the farmers they work with, they know the complicated businesses that they are running. Once they are closed farmers will no longer have the trusted

9/ relationships and local knowledge that now exists. The Agriculture Minister has stated no jobs will be lost, and that employees were already working from home. I would invite him to visit the Altona office and speak with staff. Though closed to the public they have

10/ continued to work from their office to serve farmers, and when it is closed they have been told they will be expected to work out of the new centralized mega-office 40 minutes away, and that some of them may need to take positions at other locations hours away. Furthermore,

11/ as employees resign or retire it is very unlikely that new employees will still live in the smaller rural centers that they now do, they will rather live in the large towns or cities where the new mega-centers are being located. The government claims these offices were only

12/ visited 2 times a week. This is in part because some of the offices have already had no staff for most of the week, so of course visits will be low. In the Altona office there have been 6-7 visits per day, 30 times more than the Minister indicated. One young farmer I know

13/ often visited for advice as he started his farm over the past few years, and because of the local relationship that developed the farmer and Ag rep ended up working together to develop farm research trials. This will not happen when there is no longer a designated employee

14/ to work with him. Sure, paperwork can be submitted online, but as we’ve all found out since the pandemic has started, there is no replacement for in person relationships.

15/ This decision has apparently been made to save $700,000 in office costs. That represents 0.01% of the direct GDP these farmers generate for Manitoba. It is 0.6% of the $125 million farmers pay to this very department in insurance fees each year. The cost to have local

16/ employees based in their communities, providing jobs to rural Manitoba, and service to one of the province’s most important industries is less than a rounding error. Change can be positive. In fact, Agriculture is an industry that is arguably changing faster than almost any

17/ other. However, the decision to close these offices was seemingly made without consulting farmers, farm groups, municipalities, or the staff working in these locations. There are almost certainly ways to improve service to farmers while reducing office costs. But to forge

18/ ahead with a plan to centralize employees in urban offices without any consultation does not do that. It’s just one more hit for rural Manitobans to absorb.

This current government was elected by MLAs covering the exact parts of rural Manitoba where these offices are going

19/ to be closed. I am asking our Premier, Agriculture Minister, and MLA to stand up for our small towns and rural communities, to ask questions and listen to those who you represent, and reverse or adjust decisions like these accordingly.

Jordan Siemens