KAP welcomes education property tax rollback

A promised start to the phasing out of the education property tax is “welcome news,” said KAP president Bill Campbell. “Farmers pay a disproportionate amount of education property taxes, and the disparity between what farmers are paying and what the average homeowner is paying remains an issue,” Campbell said in a statement April 9. “Until the tax is completely removed, farmers will continue to pay more[...]

Popham returns as B.C. ag minister

Lana Popham was named Monday as minister of agriculture post by returning Premier David Eby, following the New Democrats' whisker-thin return to majority government in the Oct. 19 election.



B.C.'s ag minister downed in fraught election

Pam Alexis, the minister of agriculture and food for David Eby's New Democrats since late 2022, was defeated in her constituency of Abbotsford-Mission in Saturday night's election by Conservative challenger Reann Gasper, by a spread of almost 2,700 votes.


Internal dispute over privilege, bullying allegations ties up C-234

A proposed amendment, and a dispute over senatorial behaviour, further geared down progress Tuesday of a federal private member's bill to carve out a carbon tax exemption for grain drying and heating of barns and greenhouses. Bill C-234, which passed the House of Commons in late March, remained on the Senate's order paper for debate[...]

P.E.I. ag minister, ag critics re-elected

Prince Edward Island's incumbent agriculture minister and opposition agriculture critics prevailed in Monday night's provincial election, in which incumbent premier Dennis King's Tories were returned with a majority. Darlene Compton, King's agriculture minister since last summer and his incumbent deputy premier, won re-election Monday for the Progressive Conservatives in her district of Belfast-Murray River. Compton,[...]


Maple Leaf sees 'inflection point' beyond red ink of 2022

Another of Canada's major pork and poultry packers has reported significant net losses in its 2022 ledger, but sees "green shoots" suggesting a return to normal pork markets and stable supply chains this year. Maple Leaf Foods on Thursday reported a net loss of $311.89 million on $4.739 billion in gross sales for its fiscal[...]

Dairy commission fills board vacancy

Concerns that the Canadian Dairy Commission could be caught short at its board table have been resolved with a new appointment to a vacant commissioner's chair. Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau on Sept. 27 announced Shikha Jain will be the CDC's commissioner for a four-year term effective Sept. 15. Jain, who lives at Guelph, is[...]


Saputo to consolidate U.S. cheesemaking, shut three plants

The Canadian company ranked among the three biggest cheesemakers in the U.S. is preparing to consolidate five of its cheese plants in that country down to two. Montreal-based Saputo announced last Thursday it has construction underway on a new $240 million cut-and-wrap cheese plant in the Milwaukee suburb of Franklin, to be up and running[...]

Country icon, Alberta rancher Ian Tyson dies at 89

Ian Tyson, the British Columbia-born cowboy who became a Canadian folk and country music legend and southern Alberta rancher, died Thursday at age 89. Among his many accolades, Tyson was named to the Order of Canada since 1994 and the Alberta Order of Excellence in 2006. A cause of death was not released Thursday but[...]