Barry Wilson

A sugar deal cut between Canada and the United States guarantees limited access to the U.S. for sugar refined at the beet plant in Taber, Alta., but it comes at the expense of Canadian companies that produce sugar-containing products. The Rogers Sugar plant has been guaranteed most of the U.S. import market for refined sugar. […] Read more

For critics of the Canadian Wheat Board monopoly over export and malting barley sales, the next few months are critical, says the president of the Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association. Larry Maguire said if the government cannot be persuaded this fall to remove the barley monopoly, it will stay in place at least six more […] Read more

CANDIAC, Que. – The building designated to house Canada’s largest pasta-making plant stands empty and forlorn. Behind a Finepasta Inc. sign, it sits in a suburb south of Montreal, remarkable only for the behind-the-scenes political controversy it has stirred and the growing possibility it will never produce one strand of spaghetti or one morsel of […] Read more

Initial payments for Canadian Wheat Board grains probably will increase before the end of the month, CWB minister Ralph Goodale indicated last week. Farmer representatives said Monday higher initial prices would be good news, but they criticized the government’s handling of the issue. Saskatchewan Wheat Pool president Leroy Larsen said there should be no more […] Read more

Canadian Wheat Board minister Ralph Goodale last week indicated he will face down his critics by introducing wheat board reform legislation much like the bill that died in the last Parliament. It will create a wheat board with a board of directors two-thirds elected by farmers, more flexibility, some continuing control from Ottawa and a […] Read more

The United States won a small concession from Canada this week in response to its continuing complaints about impediments to imports of American grain. On Sept. 8, Canada announced it will suspend the small tariff of 23 cents per tonne it has on imports of American barley and barley products. Last year, 84,000 tonnes came […] Read more

Think of it as a bargaining bazaar. A foreign company suggests it might invest in a new food processing plant and Canada is one of the possible sites. Within days, Canadian politicians and bureaucrats are compiling a list of incentives they can offer to bring the investment, and the jobs, to their back yards. The […] Read more

A pasta company calls government incentives ridiculous and unfair. If all the plans bear fruit, Canada’s pasta industry is on the verge of a major expansion. And behind many of the announcements lurks the helpful hand of government. It makes the four major companies with operating plants uneasy and sometimes more than a little angry. […] Read more

The federal Western Diversification office sees itself as a reformed subsidizer, a government support agency riding the wave of public opposition to corporate handouts. In the beginning, interest-free loans were its main tool for encouraging western economic growth. Now, it promotes itself as a provider of “integrated services” and a promoter of partnerships with private […] Read more

The federal government is vowing to once again defend Canada’s dairy supply management system against a potential American challenge. Late last week, three American dairy groups asked the United States trade office to again take Canada’s dairy system to international trade court. They complained that Canada is not meeting its trade treaty obligations by subsidizing […] Read more