In the past four decades, rural Canada has been kind to the Progressive Conservative Party. Since John Diefenbaker turned the Prairies from Liberal red to Tory blue in the companion campaigns of 1957 and 1958, rural constituencies have represented the bulk of Tory seats in the House of Commons. Of course, 1993 broke that pattern, […] Read more
Stories by Barry Wilson
Reform want inquiry into spy tactics
OTTAWA – When Parliament re-assembles Sept. 16, Reform MPs plan to demand some answers from the Liberals about why Canada Customs agents planned to spy on anti-Canadian Wheat Board protesters. One MP will call for a parliamentary inquiry. “I take this very, very seriously,” Calgary MP Art Hanger said Aug. 29. “I see this as […] Read more
Hog farmers get environment survival guide
OTTAWA – Canadian hog industry leaders are urging farmers to clean up their act, both to improve the industry’s image and to try to head off the threat of more restrictive government regulation. Last week, the Canadian Pork Council published a Canadian Code of Practice for Environmentally Sound Hog Production which will be distributed across […] Read more
Chemical access deal with U.S. possible
MILDMAY, Ont. – Canada and the United States will work out a deal to accept each other’s farm chemical registrations but it will have to wait until next year, agriculture minister Ralph Goodale said recently. “That is the goal,” he told farm audiences throughout rural southwestern Ontario. “If their science meets our standards, there is […] Read more
Pressure mounts for a dual medical care system
Manitoba farmer Linda McNair was paying close attention last week to a health-policy debate half a continent away. In Sydney, N.S., Canada’s doctors debated a proposal to promote a pay-as-you-go tier of medical care as a supplement to publicly funded services. In Winnipeg, meanwhile, Canada’s once-great Progressive Conservative Party listened to young Tories argue that […] Read more
Goodale leaning in favor of wheat board
SHELBURNE, Ont. – Barring last minute second thoughts, agriculture minister Ralph Goodale will announce this autumn he is rejecting proposals that the wheat and barley export monopoly of the Canadian Wheat Board be weakened. Last week, Goodale said he will announce in late September or early October acceptance of Western Grain Marketing Panel proposals to […] Read more
Liberals drum up rural Ontario support
VARNA, Ont. – It was a politician’s version of a Kodak moment. As agriculture minister Ralph Goodale sat before a crowd of Ontario farmers, waiting for the next demand that he justify this policy or that decision, a chicken producer came forward. “We don’t really have any complaints,” said John Maaskant, a director of the […] Read more
Minister under pressure over EU beef imports
VARNA, Ont. – Federal agriculture minister Ralph Goodale took heat last week for the government decision to allow as much as 5,000 tonnes of subsidized European beef into Canada. At almost every stop during a two-day tour of rural southwestern Ontario ridings, beef farmers complained subsidized beef should not be allowed into the country. Even […] Read more
Proposed biotech food laws welcomed
OTTAWA – The federal government has proposed new “precautionary” rules to govern the regulation of food products produced through biotechnology. The proposals, now subject to a 60-day comment period, cheered farm representatives who lobbied to keep food product assessment under Agriculture Canada control, rather than Environment Canada. “We are pleased with these recommendations,” said Sally […] Read more
MPs push for minister sensitive to rural issues
LAMBETH, Ont. – Prime minister Jean ChrŽtien is under pressure from his rural MPs to add a minister of rural affairs to his cabinet. And even though agriculture minister Ralph Goodale warns it could “ghettoize” rural issues in cabinet even as it gives them focus, some rural MPs think ChrŽtien will act before the next […] Read more
