To that effect, DFC, in collaboration with Sussex Strategy Group, won the Reed Award for Best Canadian Website, a prize granted by United States-based Campaigns and Elections, as well as Bronze for the Canadian Milk Matters campaign in the Government Relations/Public Affairs Campaign of the Year and the Best Digital Communications Campaign of the Year categories at the Achieving Communications Excellence Awards Gala held by the Canadian Public Relations Society.

Given the campaign’s success and recognizability, the Canadian Milk Matters logo will now be used as the logo associated with DFC’s political activities, and will be used as a rallying sign for all our future political events.

In May, DFC initiated a new phase of Canadian Milk Matters, sending an email with a link to a short survey to those who participated in the letter-writing campaign during the election. More than 30% responded to our invitation. These numbers demonstrate once again how committed our base is to supporting dairy in Canada. The survey results will help us gain a better understanding of the different priorities and opinions on the key issues facing dairy farmers and Canadian consumers.

Canadian Milk Matters was at the centre of activities held to mark June 1st’s World Milk Day. On June 2nd, DFC held a rally on Parliament Hill, where 3,000 producers from Quebec and Ontario, as well as representatives from each province, gathered together to ask the government to fulfill its responsibilities towards supply management. Satellite events were also held simultaneously in Saskatchewan and Prince-Edward-Island.

Canadian Milk Matters will continue to focus on the issues that resonate most with our dairy farmers—the very backbone of our rural economies—and with consumers, who want to be assured not only that the milk and milk products they buy are safe and of high quality, but also that they are paying a reasonable price when purchasing them.

SUPPLY MANAGEMENT

Canada’s supply-managed system has been under a lot of pressure this past year due to international trade agreements, public criticism, the global dairy situation, and various issues related to the management of Canada’s borders.

In addition, some supply management critics, such as the Montreal Economic Institute, and former MP Martha Hall Findlay, took the opportunity presented by TPP negotiations and the 2015 Federal Election to re-emphasize their criticisms of the system. During the election, several news outlets printed Ms. Hall Findlay’s declaration that politicians needn’t worry so much about dairy, as only 13 Canadian federal ridings have a significant dairy presence — when, in fact, dairy has a significant presence in 44 ridings in Ontario and Quebec alone. DFC was able to set the record straight, leading to the use of the 44 ridings number across most media channels; it quickly became clear for politicians that in order to win the Canadian election, they could not ignore the dairy industry’s issues.

Throughout all of these challenges, DFC has defended Canada’s unique system tooth and nail. All of our ongoing communication and government relations endeavours have been aimed at promoting and defending supply management, and we have also taken every opportunity to collaborate with the supply management organizations (SM5) and business partners such as Holstein Canada and Agropur in these efforts.

DFC produces and distributes the bi-monthly newsletter Dairy Express, which we use namely to inform farmers on DFC initiatives and communicate messages from our partners to them. Dairy Express has also proven useful to share, for example, census information from the Canadian Revenue Agency or relevant facts pertaining to trade deal negotiations. The positive feedback we have received thus far has been an indicator that this publication is on the right track!

Issues Management

Over the past year, the Issues Management Working Group has met twice in person: once in December in Montreal, and once in May in Halifax. It also holds scheduled monthly conference calls, in addition to members reaching out to each other anytime there is a relevant matter to address. During meetings, they discuss local and national issues, and expand their knowledge on useful topics such as activism and animal welfare, which were discussed in Halifax.

In the fall of 2015, the DFC Board of Directors adopted a new crisis management communications protocol, which was shared with provincial dairy organizations. We now have a clear procedure with regard to the support DFC can provide to members in case of a crisis. Indeed, a mobile team will be available as needed to travel across the country and lend a helping hand.

The Communications team now has an Assistant Director in charge of communicating DFC’s policies in its midst. This allows us to better plan, and to offer more adequate services to the Policy and International Trade and Marketing teams.

Targeting women who aspire to be successful in their agricultural career, their family and community lives and secure their financial independence, this networking event showcased women who have been there and are willing to share what they have learned along the way. We might add that the crowd assembled thoroughly enjoyed Caroline Emond's presentation.

To give Canadian women dairy farmers the chance to take part in this rewarding experience, DFC organized the Advancing Women contest. We asked them to put pen to paper and tell us about the issues that affect them and the dairy industry for a chance to win a trip to Calgary to attend the Advancing Women West event that took place on March 28 and 29. DFC would like to congratulate Jennifer Veldhuisen, Rachael Verwey, Carol Boonstoppel and Lindsay Heer for their winning essays. Their applications stood out from the numerous entries received as part of the contest. Thank you to all the passionate and inspiring women dairy farmers throughout the country for their participation!

The Canadian Young Farmers' Forum connects young farmers from across Canada to provide the support, encouragement and resources that allow them to promote agriculture and become leaders in their sector.

Sponsored by DeLaval Canada, the Dairy Farm Sustainability Award recognizes Canadian dairy farmers who have proactively adopted on-farm management practices that can serve as models for other farms, that have extended beyond regulatory requirements and have demonstrated continuous improvement in various aspects of sustainable dairy farming, such as animal care and efficient and sustainable management of natural resources.

The other finalists, Dwayne and Becky Perry of the Perryhill Farm Inc. (Perry Settlement, New-Brunswick) and Nelson Dinn of UBC Dairy Education and Research Centre (Agassiz, British-Columbia), have both received $1,000 at their respective provincial annual general meeting.