Barry Wilson

The way agriculture minister Ralph Goodale seems to see it, American farmers threatening to use piles of manure to block grain imports from Canada will not have to look too far for their supplies. Their anti-Canadian rhetoric would do the trick. “There is no factual basis whatsoever for the allegation that Canadian grain movement into […] Read more

Increasingly nervous farm leaders are urging Parliament Hill politicians to approve two farm policy reform bills that are supported by farmers but risk falling by the wayside as the Liberals rush toward an election. Bills to give a legislative base to interest-free cash advances up to $50,000 and to replace farm debt review boards with […] Read more

For the first time in almost eight years, Canadian hogs are crossing the Canada-U.S. border duty-free. Last week, the U.S. department of commerce ruled that based on a review of government support programs in 1994-95, Canadian hog farmers were largely unsubsidized. It dropped the duty on hogs crossing the border to zero, at least until […] Read more

CP Rail made a profit of more than half a billion dollars last year, sharply higher than 1995 earnings despite a decline in freight revenues. “Canadian Pacific Railway’s financial performance, achieved during a period of unprecedented internal change, was particularly satisfying,” said David O’Brien, president of CP Ltd., the parent company of CP Rail, in […] Read more

The federal government is proposing to rewrite the legislation that governs Canada’s federally regulated co-operatives, but it is unlikely to become law in this Parliament. The new Canada Co-operatives Act would expand the way co-ops under federal rules can raise capital. It would also give co-ops more flexibility in deciding who can sit on boards […] Read more

The farm lobby scored a major victory Monday in its year-long battle against what it considers excessive cost recovery plans and bureaucratic inflexibility by the Pest Management Regulatory Agency. Treasury board president Marcel MassŽ indicated in a letter April 14 to the Canadian Federation of Agriculture that the agency is being put on a short […] Read more

As Canada and the United States prepare for a late April meeting of officials to open “consultations” on Canadian wheat exports south, an American grain industry official said the risk of disagreement is real. “It is fair to say we may have a political problem here,” Bob Petersen, president of the Washington-based National Grain Trade […] Read more

Even as it became more likely that government promises to democratize the Canadian Wheat Board will die with a late April election call, Liberals introduced changes aimed at making the plan more appealing to farmers. The bill to amend the Canadian Wheat Board Act remained mired in the Commons agriculture committee despite efforts by the […] Read more

The government plans significant changes to its proposed Canadian Wheat Board reform bill in a bid to speed it through before an expected June election, according to Parliament Hill sources. Many of the amendments, likely to be unveiled later this week by Liberal MPs at the Commons agriculture committee, will be aimed at reducing the […] Read more