After six and a half years as the Farmers’ Advocate for Alberta, Jim Kiss has decided to seek new challenges and opportunities.
Kiss was appointed advocate in 2004, after nearly 15 years in political service to various provincial cabinet ministers and as Premier Ralph Klein’s deputy chief of staff.
.“I am very proud of the Farmers’ Advocate Office (FAO) team of dedicated individuals that work for rural Albertans each and every day,” says Kiss. “They do a tremendous job providing information, advice, opinion, suggestions and generally helping folks understand their rights and what they can do to resolve their disputes.”
During his time as Farmers’ Advocate, Kiss wanted to promote a more proactive and progressive approach to help rural Albertans prepare and plan for issues that they may face. He directed a re-organization of the office and structured the FAO services into three main areas, rural opportunities, rural consumer protection and fair process.
By championing projects such as the pricing transparency, Kiss helped landowners level the playing field with energy industry land agents in negotiating surface compensation. There was an emphasis placed on mediation services, and many FAO staff took mediation training and worked towards becoming accredited mediators. Kiss was successful in gaining Growing Forward funding for the rural umpire network pilot project, where rural Albertans facing a dispute could potentially seek the services of a trained mediator to resolve their differences.
“Emotion is your number 1 enemy when you are facing a potential dispute or negotiation,” says Kiss. “The more proactive you can be in providing sound rationale and supporting data to your position, ensuring it is full of fact and assumption versus emotion, the more favourable the position you put yourself in to accomplish your goals.”
The FAO worked hard to streamline the Farm Implement Administration and ensure purchasers of farm implements received good consumer protection. The FAO saw an increase in licensed dealers, distributors and manufactures from approximately 350 in 2005 to over 500 in 2011.
Kiss spent considerable time as advocate connecting with rural Albertans and visiting them in their communities. “I logged just about 50,000 kilometres a year going to stakeholder meetings, visiting with individuals and hearing their issues and concerns. It was kind of like that song, ‘I’ve been everywhere’…
“Rural Albertans are practical folks. They are fiercely independent, proud of their community and way of life, loyal to family and friends and have a good perspective on values of right and wrong. These are the type of folks we should listen to and learn from as we consider issues and develop policy.