OTTAWA – Beginning in the fall, the House of Commons agriculture committee will hold public hearings on a federal proposal to change the rules of the cash advance program, including making it tougher on defaulters. Legislation to create a national cash advance program with similar rules across the country was debated last week and sent […] Read more
Stories by Barry Wilson
Farmers still donate grain despite high wheat prices
OTTAWA – Soaring wheat prices and the chance for solid market profits have not made Canadian farmers less likely to give their grain away to help the world’s hungry, says the head of the Canadian Foodgrains bank. Al Doerksen of Winnipeg said farmers have retained their generosity, despite the lure of a quicker dollar from […] Read more
‘Bureaucrat’s bureaucrat’ takes over Ag Canada
Whether it is fair or not, new deputy agriculture minister Frank Claydon assumes his pivotal new job with a reputation. In farm lobby offices, and on Parliament Hill, he is seen by many as a bureaucrats’ bureaucrat – a man who pursues government agendas whether or not they are in farmer interests. It meant that […] Read more
Farmers angered at talk of NAFTA compromise
OTTAWA – As Canada’s dairy, poultry and egg industries nervously await this summer’s trade panel ruling on supply management tariffs, some federal officials are quietly suggesting the result may not be the clear-cut legal victory Canada has predicted. Officially, the government still insists it expects to win a decisive victory vindicating Canada’s tariffs. But industry, […] Read more
Rail car coalition cracking
OTTAWA – The farmer coalition trying to buy the government’s grain hopper car fleet lost one of its members last week in a dispute over tactics and ideology. The Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association decided to bail out of the farmer rail car coalition, citing a loss of faith in the project and political disagreements […] Read more
Officials favor relaxed labeling guidelines
OTTAWA – Senior government officials wrestling with the issue of how biotechnology and its products should be governed came down last week on the side of flexible guidelines rather than specific, enforceable regulations as the best means. It is the position biotech boosters, including agricultural interests, have taken when they appeared this spring before a […] Read more
Ontario farmers slam Goodale for favoring West
OTTAWA – Ontario’s farm lobby has turned up the heat in its complaints that the federal Liberal government is practising benign, or perhaps not so benign, neglect toward Canada’s largest agricultural province. They are accusing agriculture minister Ralph Goodale of favoring Western Canada and Quebec over Ontario. “There is no doubt that he is a […] Read more
Ontario creating innovative safety net
OTTAWA – Ontario fruit and vegetable growers are trying to create a self-directed income safety net system that could become a model across the country. It flows out of their frustration with the flaws in crop insurance and the refusal of crop insurance bureaucrats to fix the problems, sector leaders told MPs last week. “We’re […] Read more
One audit enough for board
OTTAWA – The Liberal government last week rejected a Reform party proposal that the federal auditor general be given power to look at the books of the Canadian Wheat Board. Since the board already is audited privately, an annual government audit would be duplication and “a waste of time and money,” according to secretary of […] Read more
Deputy minister appointment breaks tradition
OTTAWA – Frank Claydon, the federal government’s new top agricultural bureaucrat, will preside over a department fast shrinking in size and responsibility. He said last week he expects to oversee an era of shifting responsibilities and resources. “It may involve some devolution,” he said in an interview June 13, his second full day as deputy […] Read more
