Barry Wilson

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

OTTAWA – Farm groups are stepping up their political campaign against increased government user fees, and they’ve won some Parliament Hill allies. Jim Peterson and members of the House of Commons finance committee promised to carry the message into government that cost recovery in agriculture might be going too far. “We have heard the message,” […] Read more

OTTAWA – If the federal government asks a tough “black and white question” in the barley plebiscite next winter, more farmers will vote to retain the Canadian Wheat Board monopoly on malt and export feed sales, predicts a pollster. “My feeling is that when they put a question that is black and white, either you […] Read more

OTTAWA – Rural landowners can breathe a bit easier now that the federal government has unveiled relatively unintrusive proposals to protect endangered species, says an Ottawa-based farm lobbyist. “It is the imposition of another set of rules but the rules could have been a lot tougher and a lot more difficult for agriculture as a […] Read more

OTTAWA – Grain exporters could be losers if Ottawa does not change flawed proposals to deregulate and commercialize the Canadian marine freight system, a spokesperson for prairie wheat pools warned MPs last week. Alberta Wheat Pool president Alex Graham said one of the victims could be the St. Lawrence Seaway system. He told a House […] Read more

OTTAWA – When westerners next vote in a federal election, they will not endure the traditional irritation of hearing the election has been decided in the East before their votes even are counted, government House leader Herb Gray said last week. He told a House of Commons committee that the government has decided to adopt […] Read more

OTTAWA – The Canadian Wheat Board is supporting a bid by Canada’s pasta producers to win protection from imports of subsidized Italian pasta. Last May, the Canadian International Trade Tribunal ruled that while imports from Italy are subsidized, they have not caused material injury to the domestic industry. It lifted anti-dumping duties that had been […] Read more

OTTAWA – The government decision to limit its proposed new farm debt mediation service to farmers facing insolvency has become the most contentious part of its plan to revamp the farm debt review board system. Critics, including several government MPs, have complained there should be more help for farmers who are sliding into financial trouble […] Read more