Nineteen farmers want to be elected to the Canadian Wheat Board’s board of directors. Nominations for this fall’s vote closed at 6 p.m. Central Daylight Savings time on Oct. 20. The list of those running includes two incumbents, two who have previously run unsuccessfully and 15 newcomers. In each of the five districts holding elections, […] Read more
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Candidates ready to run in CWB vote
Landowners challenge methane ownership
ROSEBUD, Alta. – An Alberta landowner group is challenging the ownership of coalbed methane reserves. United Landowners of Alberta says it is prepared to sue the province over its belief that this form of unconventional natural gas belongs to title holders because it is a renewable resource similar to solar, geothermal or wind energy. The […] Read more
Former Sask. premier announces retirement
Former agriculture minister and deputy premier Dwain Lingenfelter could be in the running as the next leader of Saskatchewan’s NDP. Lorne Calvert, who led the party as premier since 2001 and as opposition leader after the November 2007 election, announced his resignation Oct. 16. Amid a celebratory atmosphere at an NDP event in Saskatoon, Calvert […] Read more
Gas producers reject landowner arguments
A dispute brewing over the ownership of coalbed methane in Alberta may not get far, says a representative for the Canadian Society for Unconventional Gas. The United Landowners of Alberta hope a legal challenge over the ownership of the gas will award it to property owners rather than the province, but Mike Dawson of the […] Read more
Wheat board on chopping block?
Within hours of the Conservative election victory Oct. 14, opponents of the Canadian Wheat Board monopoly were calling for quick action on the issue when Parliament reconvenes. “This is a promise the Conservatives made and we fully expect them to keep that promise and soon,” Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association chair Mike Bast said from […] Read more
Sask. announces rebate program for gopher infested farms
Saskatchewan producers who have spent millions of dollars trying to control gophers are now able to get half their money back. The provincial government last week announced a rebate program for poison purchased between Aug. 1, 2007, and Oct. 1, 2008. Agriculture minister Bob Bjornerud said individual producers, First Nations and rural municipalities are eligible […] Read more
Federal agriculture department likely to have lengthy agenda
When the new agriculture minister arrives for the first day on the job, he or she will find a backlog of work that has accumulated over the past two months. Negotiations with provinces over agreements to implement last summer’s Growing Forward agreement must be restarted and completed. Worries about the health of the country’s farm […] Read more
Canola protein isolates approved for use in U.S.
A Vancouver company and its business partner are poised to open up a new market for Canada’s top oilseed. Burcon NutraScience has received the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s generally recognized as safe (GRAS) designation for its canola protein isolates. “Achieving GRAS status is a major advancement in the commercialization of Puratein and Supertein, the […] Read more
Dion to step down
Stéphane Dion’s troubled and unsuccessful two-year tenure as leader of the federal Liberal party will end with a leadership convention next spring in Vancouver. Dion, the Montreal professor, 12-year MP and surprise winner of the leadership in 2006 as a convention compromise candidate, led the party to a 26 percent popular support level in the […] Read more
Rural voters abandon Liberals
Rural voters across Canada continued to turn the porch lights out on the Liberal party in the Oct. 14 election. As it has in elections over the past decade, the Liberal rural caucus contracted last week as rural incumbents in almost a dozen ridings fell to Conservative or New Democratic Party opponents. The party forfeited […] Read more
