Canadians can be confident health and safety standards will not be compromised as changes are made to the national food inspection system, agriculture minister Lyle Vanclief said Monday. He was commenting on fears expressed by farm lobbyists and the union representing federal food inspectors last week about the fallout if Canada turns more of its […] Read more
Stories by Barry Wilson
Drop in food exports a ‘temporary blip’
The steady expansion in the value of Canadian food exports faltered during the first half of the year, government trade figures released last week indicate. After several years of steady growth, the value of Canadian food exports shrank during the first six months of the year. The country’s food trade surplus has shrunk as the […] Read more
Ag research investment a tough sell
Spending public dollars on agricultural research is one of the best investments around, but it is “a hard sell” to some budget-conscious governments, says a spokes-person for a national research planning council. “Research has provided overwhelming returns to the economy,” said Ralph Christian, executive director of the Alberta Agriculture research division and vice-chair of the […] Read more
United Nations has little use for agriculture issues
The Canadian farm lobby often complains that governments do not pay them enough heed, that farmers are taken for granted. True as that may be sometimes, things always could be worse. Just ask David King, the Paris-based secretary general of the International Federation of Agriculture Producers. In theory, IFAP is the global voice for organized […] Read more
FCC head aims to help new farmers
John Ryan, newly appointed president of Farm Credit Corporation, heads west to Regina this week with some definite ideas about how to run the federal farm lender. He is an expatriate Nova Scotian with little direct agriculture sector experience but he already understands the FCC priority. “The FCC has a long history of supporting the […] Read more
Public challenges Ottawa to preserve health care
Doctors, the federal government and ordinary Canadians – rural and urban – spoke out about medicare last week and the verdict was unanimous. A universal, publicly funded medicare system must be maintained as the core of Canada’s medical system. A public opinion survey conducted by Winnipeg-based Angus Reid Group showed a declining public tolerance for […] Read more
Confusion reigns over Canada’s position on private food inspection
The Canadian government is under fire from union and farm representatives who say it has been sending out mixed and confusing messages about whether it supports increased food company control over the safety inspection of their products. They are asking agriculture minister Lyle Vanclief to clarify the issue, preferably on the side of continued government […] Read more
Reform’s unity policies being adopted by others?
Reform leader Preston Manning must be smiling this summer as he takes some well-publicized French language training in Quebec. The rules of the so-called “national unity” debate are beginning to shift in his favor and he surely can take some of the credit. Western Canadian sensibilities may for the first time be setting the agenda […] Read more
Scrap plan to exempt grain from labor code, analyst advises
A Vancouver-based conservative think tank last week warned the federal government against reintroducing labor law proposals it tried to push through the last parliament. And the author of the Fraser Institute analysis argues that the government should drop proposals to protect export grain from being grounded at the West Coast by third-party strikes. “There is […] Read more
Canada sends more to North Korea
A new aid commitment from the federal government, along with the Aug. 1 crash in prairie grain prices, means more Canadian food aid will be flowing to drought-stricken North Korea this year. Last week, Ottawa announced an additional $4.5 million in food aid for North Korea – $2.5 million in canned fish to be distributed […] Read more
