Kelsey Johnson

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency was not planning to inform Canadians of the country’s latest case of BSE until March 10. In an internal memo that was obtained by iPolitics Feb. 12, Canada’s chief veterinarian, Harpreet Kochar, told CFIA employees the case would be published on CFIA’s website March 10 as part of the agency’s […] Read more

It was supposed to be a quiet five days in Ottawa, a chance for reporters to catch up on a backlog of stories while MPs visited their home ridings for constituency week. Instead, political chaos ensued the morning of Feb. 9 as news broke that controversial Tory MP Eve Adams was crossing the floor to […] Read more

There’s been a shakeup on the House of Commons’ agriculture committee benches, with a new parliamentary secretary and the transfer of Conservative heavy-hitter Randy Hoback to the trade committee. A mini-cabinet shuffle in January saw prime minister Stephen Harper move Ontario MP Pierre Lemieux from his post as parliamentary secretary for agriculture to parliamentary secretary […] Read more

The countdown to the next federal election begins as MPs headed back to Ottawa this week, bringing with it a political agenda designed to divide parties and wrap up lingering files. Most anticipate that security and the economy will dominate much of Ottawa’s mainstream discussions in the coming months, thanks to tumbling oil prices and […] Read more

Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations are shifting to the spotlight, with U.S. trade representative Michael Froman signalling the Americans want the talks wrapped up in the next two months. Twelve countries, including Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand, are involved in trade discussions which, if finalized, would open access to several lucrative Asian–Pacific markets, including […] Read more

Transport Canada has levied $150,000 in fines against the country’s two major railways for failing to move enough grain. The monetary penalties come after transport minister Lisa Raitt admitted in September that Canadian National Railway had missed several weeks of mandatory grain targets. At the time, Raitt told reporters CN had missed three weeks of […] Read more

The new year is upon us and with it comes guarantees of many political challenges and antics. Parliamentarians are set to return to Ottawa Jan. 26. The prime minister continues to insist the country is not headed toward a spring election, a commitment most recently reiterated in a year-end interview with CBC journalist Peter Mansbridge. […] Read more

Canada’s parliamentarians have headed home for the holidays after a tumultuous fall session rife with political posturing and pre-election antics. No one’s complaining. Talk to most anyone on the Hill, MPs and journalists among them, and they’ll likely tell you that the past couple months haven’t been easy. Everyone needs a break. First, there’s the […] Read more

He’s no longer prime minister, but Brian Mulroney hasn’t forgotten the art of politics. In a Dec. 3 speech to farmers, industry officials and other high profile agricultural folks at the Grow Canada conference in Ottawa, Canada’s 18th prime minister laid down a speech that would leave the room buzzing for hours. Mulroney, now 75, […] Read more

Set the stage for a fight. Ontario has moved to re-strict the number of acres treated with neonicotinoid pesticides by 80 percent by 2017, and tensions between the provincial government, grain farmers and beekeepers are mounting. Many of the province’s beekeepers are over the moon, while grain farmers are fuming. Meanwhile, the Ontario government, whose […] Read more