Years ago, when I was younger and knew more, I wrote a column which began something like this: “The connection between politicians and the truth is tenuous at best.” Roy Romanow, then Saskatchewan’s deputy premier, publicly objected to what he considered naive cynicism. In subsequent decades of covering politicians, I often have admired them for […] Read more
Stories by Barry Wilson
AWP miffed at loss of labor reform
The Liberal government’s failure to push Canadian Labor Code reforms through Parliament before an election call leaves prairie grain farmers “big losers,” says Alberta Wheat Pool president Alex Graham. The legislation would have forced non-grain employers and unions on the West Coast to move export grain even if other commodities were grounded by a work […] Read more
BQ will lose seats, says farm leader
The Bloc QuŽbecois will not repeat its near sweep of Quebec rural seats in this election, the president of Quebec’s farm lobby predicted Monday. Laurent Pellerin, president of l’Union des Producteurs Agricoles, said he expects the BQ to falter somewhat from the 54 seats it won in 1993. Included in that total were most rural […] Read more
Canadian voters brace for election
Canadians will elect a new national government June 2 and for rural prairie voters, the stakes are high. As politicians traipse across the land, dishing out promises, farmers will be hearing differing visions on key issues ranging from the Canadian Wheat Board and grain transportation problems to user fees and rural Canada’s influence in Ottawa. […] Read more
Election is unlikely to change the political debate
The new Parliament will be one which celebrates the first balanced budget in more than 30 years and which confronts Quebec’s next bid for “freedom.” In some political quarters, it is being viewed as a critical turning point in Canada’s history. Yet, curiously, it has been more than 40 years since the launch of a […] Read more
Flood brings tax break
Western Canadians battling floods this spring will not have to worry about the April 30 tax filing deadline, at least for now. The federal government is offering flood victims at least a small tax break. Revenue minister Jane Stewart said the April 30 income tax filing deadline has been suspended for those disrupted by the […] Read more
Change to crop insurance possible
The federal government has offered to rewrite Manitoba’s crop insurance agreement to help Red River Valley farmers hit by the flood. Under the current agreement, farmers have to buy unseeded acreage insurance on top of their basic crop insurance if they want to be compensated for not being able to plant their crops. Federal agriculture […] Read more
Cut to dairy subsidy set for August
The Liberal government enters the election campaign with one major and potentially damaging piece of unfinished business hanging over the heads of rural candidates in dairy producing areas. Agriculture minister Ralph Goodale has not been able to convince the government to delay by six months the scheduled beginning of the dairy subsidy phase-out. It would […] Read more
Wheat board reform becomes an election promise
Federal agriculture minister Ralph Goodale says a re-elected Liberal government will move quickly to reform the Canadian Wheat Board along the lines promised by this Liberal government. He also concedes he is not in a position to promise anything. The next election could produce a new government or a new agriculture minister. It certainly will […] Read more
U.S. attack on CWB won’t let up: Goodale
Agriculture minister Ralph Goodale said last week that his Progressive Conservative predecessor was feeding anti-Canadian Wheat Board arguments to the Americans. In an interview, Goodale recounted a conversation he had early in his term with then-American agriculture secretary Mike Espy. It was a time when the Americans were trying to limit Canadian grain exports south. […] Read more
