Barry Wilson

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

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

Quebec has cancelled its threat for the time being to withdraw support from the national chicken marketing system in a dispute over weakening production controls and low producer incomes. However, the Quebec chicken marketing board last week put Chicken Farmers of Canada on notice that it expects radical changes to the national system within a […] Read more

The government last week announced some minor amendments to proposed gun control regulations, and then made it clear the Liberals expect gun control to be a good election issue. “The time will come in the not-too-distant future when the people of Canada will have the opportunity to express themselves on the subject,” justice minister Allan […] Read more

The American administration plans to make agricultural trade issues and protection of United States farm interests a higher priority, says a U.S. farm lobbyist. In mid-April, veteran government official Peter Scher was named deputy trade ambassador with responsibility for agriculture. “I think it was an important indication that the administration is prepared to fight for […] Read more

The Liberals’ early election call was a death sentence for several pieces of legislation with a major rural impact. “It’s disappointing,” said Canadian Federation of Agriculture president Jack Wilkinson. “They just couldn’t fit everything in before a spring election timetable. After all the work that has been done on some of those bills, it is […] Read more

Leaders of Canada’s chicken industry bowed to their critics last week and agreed to rewrite the rules governing their national supply control and pricing system. However, it will not be clear until late this week or next whether the promise of reform will be enough to keep Quebec fully in the national system. It has […] Read more

The question of whether farmers should be able to vote to expand the jurisdiction of the Canadian Wheat Board, as well as to contract it, has caused a split in the Liberal caucus. Last week, Liberal MPs held some heated debates on the issue behind the closed doors of caucus meetings. Meanwhile, representatives of the […] Read more

Federal agriculture minister Ralph Goodale was sounding exasperated last week over continuing American suggestions that Canada will or should limit the amount of grain flowing south this year. “I sometimes wonder what part of the word ‘no’ these people fail to understand,” he told the House of Commons April 17. “Let me be clear. There […] Read more

Canada will enter the next round of world trade talks in 1999 looking for rules providing more security for its state trading agencies such as the Canadian Wheat Board, says a federal trade negotiator. Agriculture Canada trade official Mike Gifford, who led the agriculture negotiating team during the last round of talks ending in 1993, […] Read more