Barry Wilson

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 – The federal Liberal party, with a boost from prime minister Jean ChrŽtien, has committed itself to pursuing an activist rural development policy. At its national convention last weekend, the party approved several rural resolutions that will increase pressure on ChrŽtien and the government to act. There will be increased pressure for policies to […] Read more

OTTAWA – Agriculture Canada has told parliament it will be spending $646.8 million more this fiscal year than it earlier estimated. Some of it is new money, including Ottawa’s contribution to provincial farm income safety net companion programs and spending to establish a new food inspection agency. Some of it is merely a carryover from […] Read more

OTTAWA – The plan to ‘commercialize’ ports and the St. Lawrence Seaway moves in the right direction but the government is botching some of the details, the owners of seaway cargo ships complained last week. Norman Hall, president of the Canadian Shipowners Association, told MPs the legislation fails in that it leaves in place the […] Read more

OTTAWA – If the prime minister does not succumb to the temptations of high popularity ratings and call an early election before next summer, the next federal vote likely will take place under some new rules. The government last week announced plans to end pre-election enumeration through creation of a permanent voters’ list after one […] Read more

OTTAWA – Canada’s high anti-dumping duties on imports of American sugar have been upheld by an international trade disputes panel, bringing a sigh of relief from Canadian sugar beet farmers and sugar plants. “In the real world, if we had not had (anti-dumping duties), some of the most efficient sugar beet producers in the world […] Read more

OTTAWA – The author of a report which slammed Canada Post for allowing rural service to deteriorate has urged MPs to support better rural postal service. Toronto consultant George Radwanski told a House of Commons committee last week the moratorium on rural post office closings should be made permanent. He said rural residents have the […] Read more

OTTAWA – For Liberals from west of Manitoba who have kept the party flame alive through some lean years, these are heady days indeed. Last week, as 2,000 Liberals gathered for their last pre-election gathering, there was an underlying assumption that the 1997 election will produce their best western showing in decades. “I think the […] Read more

OTTAWA – The Fraser Institute, a Vancouver-based conservative think tank with little history in farm policy debates, has some advice for the federal government on how to make its agriculture policy close to perfect. Eliminate the Canadian Wheat Board. Phase out remaining agricultural subsidies, price supports and tariffs. “The federal government has introduced some badly […] Read more