As Canadians brace for a COVID-19 vaccine shortage, it remains unclear when temporary foreign workers — thousands of whom are employed in meat packing plants — will receive it. On Jan. 15, Canada’s minister responsible for vaccine procurement, Anita Anand, said the country’s supply of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine was experiencing a delay because the […] Read more
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Canada, Indonesia explore trade deal
Canada is exploring the merits of a trade agreement with Indonesia. International Trade Minister Mary Ng announced Jan. 11 that Canada was beginning public consultations. “Canada is committed to diversifying trade across the Asia-Pacific region to create new trade and investment opportunities for all Canadians,” Ng said in a statement. “Deepening trade ties with Indonesia […] Read more
Federal ag minister takes look back at 2020
Marie-Claude Bibeau says applying the climate plan to agriculture will be at the heart of her work in the upcoming years
D.C. Fraser, Glacier FarmMedia’s Ottawa correspondent, recently talked to federal agriculture minister Marie-Claude Bibeau about the year that just was. Questions and answers have been edited for length. Q: Looking back at the year, what was the biggest personal challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic for you? A: Trying to identify those who were the most […] Read more
Farm groups put pressure on provinces over AgriStability
Producers turn up the heat as they demand that provincial governments accept Ottawa’s business risk management proposal
Leaders of several Canadian producer groups called on provincial governments to accept Ottawa’s proposal to improve business risk management programs. During an end-of-year virtual meeting, Canadian Federation of Agriculture president Mary Robinson said federal Minister of Agriculture Marie-Claude Bibeau’s proposal to fix AgriStability, a leading irritant of the BRMs, “represents a fundamental shift in the […] Read more
Federal ag minister looks back at 2020
D.C. Fraser, Glacier FarmMedia’s Ottawa correspondent, recently talked to federal agriculture minister Marie-Claude Bibeau about the year that just was. Questions and answers have been edited for length. Q: Looking back at the year, what was the biggest personal challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic for you? A: Trying to identify those who were the most […] Read more
Food processing red tape targeted
A federal committee continues to explore ways of increasing Canada’s food processing sector. During a Nov. 24 meeting, Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan president Todd Lewis said the processing sector will need to grow to meet ambitious export targets put in place by federal and provincial governments. “If we are to build for the ambitious […] Read more
Producers biggest losers of failed agriculture minister talks
Politicians from different levels of government and party stripe continue to debate agricultural business risk management programs, but already, producers have lost. Finger pointing among elected officials began almost as soon as the latest round of federal-provincial-territorial agriculture minister meetings ended with no consensus on changes to business risk management programming. The provinces, represented by […] Read more
Lack of detail in U.K. trade deal raises concern
Despite boasting of signing a transitional agreement, Canada may not have a trade deal ready with the United Kingdom by the time 2021 rolls around. Exporters could be forced to pay British tariffs if the deal isn’t ratified into law by the end of the year. Canada’s International Trade Minister Mary Ng has failed to […] Read more
Prairie provinces have AgriStability proposal concerns
Prairie provinces continue to review the federal government’s proposed changes to AgriStability, but already it seems unlikely they will accept them. During the final day of federal-provincial-territorial agricultural ministers’ meeting on Nov. 27, Ottawa proposed removing the program’s maximum reference margin and increasing the compensation rate from 70 to 80 percent (retroactive to 2020, and […] Read more
Feds make counter proposal on possible BRM changes
Farm groups say they support a counter proposal on business risk management reform that federal agriculture minister Marie-Claude Bibeau made to the provinces at last week’s ministerial meeting. However, they were also disappointed that no consensus was reached during the Nov. 27 federal-provincial-territorial meeting. Bibeau’s proposal includes increasing the compensation rate offered under the AgriStability […] Read more
