After 40 years of not using it, the federal government last week formally renounced its option of creating an all-Canadian St. Lawrence Seaway.
Most Canadians probably did not know there was such an option.
The Seaway connecting Lake Superior to the Atlantic Ocean was opened in 1959 as a joint Canada-United States project.
But in the 1950s, Canada raised the spectre of an all-Canadian seaway route to pressure the American government to co-operate in the joint venture. It acquired hundreds of acres of land it needed for digging.
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Although never used, that option remained on the books and the land remained in government hands.
On May 5, 2000, transport minister David Collenette formally announced that the option would never be used. He turned 300 acres of land along the seaway in Cornwall, Ont., back to the city for a park.
“We have the seaway that is working very efficiently today and we do not need all of the land for a Canadian route,” he said in the House of Commons May 5.
New machinery not selling
Canada’s farm equipment industry last year suffered through the worst sales year in more than a decade.
Based on the first three months of this year, 1999 is starting to look like the good old days.
During the first quarter of the new year, sales of four-wheel drive tractors fell 15 percent to 138 units across Canada, according to the Burlington-based Canadian farm and Industrial Equipment Institute.
Combine sales fell almost nine percent to 146 units.
Sales also were off in other farm sectors.
Round baler sales were off 16 percent, swather sales were off almost 21 percent and forage harvester sales were down 42 percent.
Dairy could be a model
A Quebec dairy farm has become the first in North America to be awarded an ISO 14001 environmental management certificate by a European-based environmental management group.
Diane Beaulieu and Jean-Noel Groleau farm at Compton, Que., in the province’s Eastern Townships.
“This farm is at the top when it comes to protecting the environment,” local Conservative MP David Price told the Commons May 3. “It uses a unique technique in milk production, which takes into account current environmental concerns, while maintaining above-average production levels.”
He predicted that the Groleau farm will become a model for other farms trying to keep pace with growing environmental demands: “Their farm will be watched closely by farmers across Canada.”
Farmers and rabbits
The parliamentary quote of the week goes to southern Saskatchewan Canadian Alliance MP Lee Morrison, who rose May 5 to ask if the federal government would act to head off a 4.5 percent increase in grain freight rates slated to take effect Aug. 1.
“It is tough to be at the bottom of the food chain,” he began.
“Just ask a rabbit or a western farmer.”
For the record, transport minister Collenette said the government would try to head it off with new transportation legislation.
