Barry Wilson

The House of Commons approved the government’s single food agency proposal last week and sent the legislation off to the Senate for final debate and approval. Its approval by MPs came suddenly Feb. 12 in an atmosphere of confusion and rancor. The Bloc QuŽbecois opposition wanted to keep the debate going but because of confusion, […] Read more

The federal government has embraced the recommendations of a national advisory committee to expand the publicly funded medicare system to cover home care and pharmaceutical drugs. While the opposition Bloc QuŽbecois denounced the idea as interference in provincial affairs and a Canadian Medical Association spokesperson said the forum missed the point, the federal Liberals said […] Read more

Federal agriculture minister Ralph Goodale chided the railways last week for making excuses rather than moving grain. On two consecutive days, he told the House of Commons that the railways have promised him they are putting more locomotive power onto the Prairies. Outside the House, Goodale said the railways should plan ahead to smooth out […] Read more

The farm equipment industry had a banner year in 1996 but already the sales-induced smiles are fading as worries about 1997 begin to surface. “Clearly, 1996 will be a tough act to follow,” said Brent Hamre, president of the Canadian Farm and Industrial Equipment Institute. In Calgary, the head of New Holland Canada Ltd. said […] Read more

Foreign investors, mainly Japanese, may be on the verge of pouring huge investments in the Canadian food sector, says the federal government’s top agriculture bureaucrat. At the same time, the federal government has identified the food sector as “one of the four or five key areas for development” in the Canadian economy, Agriculture Canada deputy […] Read more

Agriculture Canada’s top official says the department may modify its cost recovery plans if the farm sector can prove the added costs put businesses in jeopardy. “What we have been saying to ourselves is that this is an important initiative from the budget that we have to work hard at,” deputy agriculture minister Frank Claydon […] Read more

MONTREAL – Canada’s cattle producers, resolutely opposed to most government subsidies in their industry, are about to lose one they would just as soon keep. Within the next two years, the Canadian Beef Export Federation expects to lose most of the more than $1 million it receives in support from the federal government. And by […] Read more

MONTREAL – As Canadian beef sellers work the potentially lucrative Asian market, they really are selling everything but the ‘moo.’ These days, roast and steak cuts are not the money-makers as Canadian exporters and representatives of the Canada Beef Export Federation promote their products in Japan, South Korea and smaller regional markets. Increasingly, animal parts […] Read more

MONTREAL – Canadian beef exporters are predicting 1997 will bring a 200 percent increase in off-shore sales. “Current forecasts estimate that exports to Asia will increase from 18,000 tonnes in 1996 to 55,000 tonnes in 1997,” Jim Graham, president of the Canada Beef Export Federation, told the federation’s Feb. 4 annual meeting. It would mean […] Read more

Most prairie academics who have watched the barley plebiscite campaign unfold predict that when the votes are counted next month in the Winnipeg, the Canadian Wheat Board will win. They are less clear on what that will mean. “In my view, the board side will win,” said University of Manitoba agricultural economist Daryl Kraft, in […] Read more