OTTAWA – Prairie farmers will be “invited and encouraged” to buy into CN Rail when the government announces next month how it plans to sell the railroad to the private sector, transport minister Doug Young said last week.
But no special incentives are planned.
In the House of Commons, Saskatchewan New Democrat Vic Althouse asked Young if he would consider “turning control of CNR over to farmers so they can control at least part of the system from farm to port.”
Young said all investors will be welcome, including farmers.
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Later, deputy transport minister Nick Mulder said it did not mean there will be a special effort to encourage farmer investment.
“What we’re saying is that if farm groups want to buy shares in CN, there will be a means to do it,” he said in an interview. “I’m not aware of any special plan in that regard.”
Proposals approved
The federal government last week won Commons approval-in-principle for two of its more controversial proposals.
The budget bill, which cuts departmental budgets, eliminates the Crow Benefit subsidy, slashes agriculture research and safety nets spending and projects sharp cuts in health and social spending, was approved April 26.
Most prairie Liberals were in the House to vote for the end of the Crow. Opposition MPs opposed it.
Left-leaning Liberals who earlier had hinted they might vote against the budget because of its cuts in social spending either stayed away or reversed themselves.
The day before, the House divided on partisan lines to approve redrawn riding boundaries that will add six urban seats to the 295-seat Commons and effectively continue the erosion of rural influence in Parliament. Both bills now go to committee for detailed study before coming back to the Commons by June for a final vote.
Mexican workers allowed
Canada and Mexico last week signed a new agreement to allow thousands of Mexicans into Canada each year to work on farms.
During several days of Ottawa meetings between Canadian and Mexican ministers, the two governments agreed to extend a 21-year-old arrangement for another four years. Last year, close to 5,000 seasonal Mexican workers were brought to Canada to work on farms in Alberta, Manitoba, Quebec and Ontario.
The agreement makes it easier for farmers to bring laborers into the country and makes sure the workers are offered the protections of law in wages and working conditions.
Hnatyshyn joins law firm
Former governor general Ray Hnatyshyn’s spell among the ranks of the unemployed was brief.
The law firm Gowling, Strathy and Henderson announced that he would join them as a partner in their Ottawa office. It was where he first found refuge after losing the 1988 election.
