Barry Wilson

Some rural prairie roads could receive a facelift this election year as the federal government tries to boost the construction industry with an injection of new infrastructure money. Ottawa is offering a $425 million, one-year extension to the three-year infrastructure program that helped get the Liberals elected in 1993. It will require provinces and local […] Read more

It took a year and a half but Environment Canada has finally received some publicity for a 1995 report which turned a relatively benign eye on the environmental impact of hamburger production. Production of the common hamburger, from pasture to styrofoam fast food package and plastic throw-away utensils, takes an environmental toll, says the analysis. […] Read more

Despite lingering images from 1996 of weather-related agricultural disasters, Canada’s overall crop insurance system ran comfortably in the black last year. In most provinces, premium revenue far exceeded payouts, says a federal crop insurance specialist. “It was a pretty good year,” said Mike Ellis of Agriculture Canada. “Based on preliminary numbers from the provinces, it […] Read more

The federal government will inherit a hot organic potato this year when it is asked to prepare regulations setting national standards for organic agriculture. The industry is divided on the issue, with Quebec and British Columbia pitted against other provinces. The federal government could find itself caught in the middle of that organic family feud. […] Read more

Prairie farmers lobbying for a more democratic Canadian Wheat Board as a way to preserve it will feel “betrayed” by the timid reforms proposed by the government, says Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association president Larry Maguire. He said despite promises from federal agriculture minister Ralph Goodale that the board would be put under the control […] Read more

Rural voters can expect to hear a gentler, more positive, less deficit-obsessed voice from Reform party candidates in the 1997 election, says a Reform party representative. Reform will be the party of tax cuts, says Saskatchewan MP and agriculture spokesperson Elwin Hermanson. It will be the party of rural child care. It will be a […] Read more

Early this month, prairie barley producers will get a better idea of the rules governing the barley marketing plebiscite scheduled for late February. The federal government has announced the consulting firm KPMG of Winnipeg will organize and run the vote to determine whether the Canadian Wheat Board will maintain control over all barley exports and […] Read more

Outgoing Farm Credit Corporation president Gerry Penney watched during the past nine years as the FCC was transformed from a money loser to a money maker. He has heard the Canadian Bankers’ Association and a Senate committee call for the sale of FCC to the private sector. He has heard some Reform MPs argue the […] Read more

Gerry Penney figures his proudest accomplishment through nine years at Farm Credit Corporation was helping convert the farm lender from a bottomless deficit pit into “a business with a heart.” Another way of saying it is that since 1987, Farm Credit has changed from being as close to bankrupt as a crown corporation can get […] Read more