Barry Wilson

OTTAWA – Like grain futures on a commodity exchange, Canada’s efforts to feed the hungry refugees of Zaire have had their ups and downs in recent days. A high point came last Wednesday when federal agriculture minister Ralph Goodale used a speech at the world food summit in Rome to announce Canada’s decision to lead […] Read more

OTTAWA – A parliamentary committee has recommended the government establish a permanent commission to study and advise on biotechnology. And the environment committee last week suggested the environment department have more power to monitor government biotech rules. A spokesperson for the Canadian Federation of Agriculture said both recommendations are unnecessary. Sally Rutherford said Agriculture Canada’s […] Read more

OTTAWA – Canada’s food processing industry is growing, concentrating and diversifying, says a government-compiled profile of the sector. It is Canada’s third largest economic sector, recently displaced as number two. Its growth depends on increased exports, with commodities like canola oil leading the way in increased sales. It is largely Canadian owned but the foreign […] Read more

OTTAWA – The Natural Law Party of Canada, whose candidates enlivened the last election campaign by practicing yogic flying for the cameras, has turned its attention to “genetically engineered food.” Last week, the group which converted a chain of meditation clinics into a political campaign promoting a natural order of things, unveiled its campaign to […] Read more

OTTAWA – The prairie wheat pools are urging the federal government not to sell its fleet of 13,000 grain hopper rail cars for five years. The recommendation, made by Prairie Pools Inc. when the House of Commons finance committee held a public hearing in Edmonton, and by Saskatchewan Wheat Pool to the same committee in […] Read more

OTTAWA – Private insurance companies should receive government subsidies so they can compete with subsidized provincial crop insurance programs, a spokesperson for the private industry recently told MPs. “We would like to be involved in crop insurance,” Norman Lafreniere of the Canadian Association of Mutual Insurance Companies told the House of Commons finance committee Oct. […] Read more

OTTAWA – The new Canadian food inspection agency will not become a vehicle for extracting user fees from farmers, senior Agriculture Canada officials assured MPs last week. As a House of Commons committee began studying legislation to create the single inspection agency, MPs worried it could become a costly bureaucracy that farmers will have to […] Read more

OTTAWA – The government’s proposal for a new food inspection agency is drawing more fire from those who will work for it and those it is supposed to help. Everyone says they like the concept but many argue the government is going about it the wrong way. Last week, businesses whose products will be inspected […] Read more

OTTAWA – Commodity shippers, including grain exporters, have managed to convince MPs to make changes to new marine legislation that a grain industry official says will make the system less costly. Last week, the House of Commons transport committee accepted amendments to the new Canada Marine Act. “We are very satisfied that the government has […] Read more

OTTAWA – Canadian farmers’ livelihoods and ability to compete are being undermined by cuts to government farm support, farm lobbyists told members of the House of Commons finance committee last week. And while Canadian governments have been cutting budgets and programs, competitors like the United States and the European Union have been spending more or […] Read more