The following is a report on the Provincial Board meeting held Oct. 24, 2007 at the LO home office in Milton.
 

President’s comments

Bob Tubby welcomed everyone to the meeting and mentioned the new fence bylaw instituted by the City of Toronto. All pools and any ponds over two feet deep must be enclosed with a five-foot protective fence. There will be a follow up article in Horticulture Review.

Gerald Boot requested a few minutes. He thanked everyone for their cards, e-mails and prayers during his recent illness. He is honoured to represent Landscape Ontario on several committees.
 

Environmental Stewardship Committee

Nathan Helder, chair of LO’s Environmental Stewardship Committee, explained that the committee’s mandate is twofold:
i)    To enhance environmental stewardship activities within the horticulture industry and to help the green industry understand its significance and contribution with respect to environment.
ii)    To raise public awareness for the environmental benefits of green industry activities.
The committee will work with CNLA to develop and environmental report card from all the provinces. Nathan invited a representative from each commodity group to join the committee. The committee will focus on four key areas:

1. Resource consumption
2. Waste reduction/recycle
3. Material/technology
4. Education/social awareness

 

Trade shows

Congress placed in the top 50 trade shows in North America by Trade Show Week magazine. Brian Cocks picked up the award in Atlanta, on behalf of Landscape Ontario.
 

Education

Sally Harvey and Joel Beatson of CNLA presented a report on certification and LO’s CLP management training seminars. Sally and Terry Murphy are working to have the new green industry curriculum adopted in the schools for fall 2009.
 

Elections

Elections for the executive position on the LO Board were held. Results are:
President - Bob Adams
1st vice president - Tom Intven
2nd vice president - Sally Harvey,
Treasurer - Tim Kearney.
The new executive took over at the annual general meeting in January.
 

Honorary members

Jennifer Llewelyn, Glen Lumis, Calvin Chong and Pam Charbonneau were voted in as honorary members of Landscape Ontario.
 

Prosperity Partners

Jacki Hart gave an update on the Prosperity Partners initiative and reported on the mentorship program. In early November she held a session for business mentors, on how to be a mentor, not a teacher. First step in Prosperity Partners’ program is a business management session, to help members understand who they are, what they want to achieve and begin to see how to get there. Looking into copyrighting the program on behalf of Landscape Ontario, a lot of time and resources have gone into producing this program.
 

Georgian Lakelands chapter

Georgian Lakelands chapter is holding a combined golf tournament and trade show at Tangle Creek Golf Course in Barrie in August.
 

London chapter

The London chapter partnered with the London Home Builders’ Association and the Life Styles Home Show in January, 2008, and worked with the design students from Fanshawe College to build a feature garden in the entrance to the stage area.
The chapter is set to launch its own website to will allow members to view coming events, minutes of meetings and commodity groups.

The London chapter is partnering with the City of London’s Parks & Recreation to create an addition to the gardens at Banting House in London. The garden was designed through a collective effort of several students in the horticulture and design programs at Fanshawe College. This is a community garden that should generate considerable media attention once completed.

The chapter is also encouraging its members to take some time and do a green audit on their companies. There is also work to create a template that companies may follow to make this project a success.
 

Ottawa chapter

The annual Day of Tribute was held November 2 at Canada’s national military cemetery. Close to 100 industry representatives from across the province attended. Lawn care was the order of the day, while Campbell Tree Services did considerable work on some of the mature maples. Special thanks goes to Bob Tubby, Tony DiGiovanni and Paul Doornbos for attending and showing their support. This most worthwhile day could not have been possible without the continued efforts of Sharon Urquhart Members of the Ottawa chapter attended an information meeting at Bell High School on Nov. 12, to review the horticulture landscaping program after its second semester comes to an end. A lively exchange of ideas was held with great feedback.
 

Toronto chapter

The Toronto chapter will hold a special event in the fall of 2008 involving David Suzuki.