OTTAWA – Agriculture minister Ralph Goodale has promised to abide by the results of the February prairie plebiscite on the future of the Canadian Wheat Board’s barley jurisdiction. “We are going to move on the results of this vote,” Goodale said in a Dec. 5 interview. “At the moment, I do not have a scenario […] Read more
Stories by Barry Wilson
Panel’s trade tariff decision a double whammy for U.S.
OTTAWA – The decision of a trade disputes panel last week that Canadian supply management protections are legal was a double blow for the United States. Blow number one came when the five-member panel of international trade lawyers were unanimous in ruling that contrary to American arguments, Canada’s system of high protective tariffs does not […] Read more
Business fights grain industry exemption
OTTAWA – Business officials were on Parliament Hill last week urging MPs to reject a government suggestion that grain be given special status in new labor law. Grant Mebs of Vancouver, of the Waterfront Foremen Employers Association, said it is unfair to exporters of other bulk commodities if grain is singled out. The Canadian Chamber […] Read more
Debt hole getting deeper for Canadian farmers
OTTAWA – Canadian farmers are a record $25.7 billion in debt and the news provoked recent words of caution about the dangers of assuming too heavy a debt load. In the past two years, despite strong commodity prices and higher farm incomes, debt has actually increased more than nine percent. Agriculture minister Ralph Goodale said […] Read more
New food agency ordered to be efficient, responsible
OTTAWA – When the new Canadian food inspection agency forms next April 1, it will be expected to fulfil an unusual instruction from Parliament. Unless the government changes its mind during the next several weeks, the legislation will require the agency to deliver its services “in a cost effective manner.” The House of Commons agriculture […] Read more
Canada wins trade dispute
OTTAWA – Canada scored a clean victory this week in the attempt by the United States to use free trade laws as a weapon to blast Canada’s supply management protective tariffs. Trade minister Art Eggleton said a trade disputes panel report presented to governments in Washington and Ottawa Dec. 2 gave Canada a unanimous win. […] Read more
Accountability suffers with government-as-a-business
SALLY Rutherford seemed to hit a raw nerve on Parliament Hill recently when she told MPs they are losing control of the bureaucratic system they are helping create. It seems like an obvious truth, yet a Saskatchewan Liberal took it as a challenge to his political manhood. After listening to the Canadian Federation of Agriculture […] Read more
Rising farm income has downside
OTTAWA – Gross farm income almost certainly is heading for a record this year but the bottom line reality is not so rosy. Last week, Statistics Canada reported that during the first nine months of the year, farm cash receipts soared almost 10 percent to $21.4 billion. The increase was particularly strong on the Prairies, […] Read more
Gun control rules raise western ire
OTTAWA – In a flurry of harsh political accusations, the federal government last week produced the regulations it will use to enforce its new gun control legislation. Opposition critics accused the Liberals of imposing unnecessary and expensive restrictions which will have no impact on crime. Alberta Reform MP Jack Ramsay said justice minister Allan Rock […] Read more
Grain companies see red on new labor rule
OTTAWA – Prairie elevator company representatives last week warned MPs that government proposals to limit the ability of employers to use replacement workers would be a blow to the future of the grain industry and farmers. They suggested proposed changes to the Canada Labor Code on replacement workers would create chaos, give union members too […] Read more
