B.C. Agriculture Minister Norm Letnick, shown here last October promoting the province’s income tax credit for farmers donating agricultural products to registered charities, held his Kelowna riding in the provincial election Tuesday night. (Gov.bc.ca)

B.C. ag minister, ag critic hang on in election

British Columbia’s incumbent agriculture minister and opposition agriculture critic have both held onto their seats in the legislature so far through the province’s harrowing election Tuesday. Complete results aren’t expected to be available until after the final count starting May 22, but preliminary results put the province’s governing Liberals in minority status with 43 of

Consumers are just figuring out what food fraud is to them, Sylvain Charlebois says. (John Greig photo)

Greig: Food fraud a challenge to whole food supply chain

Farmers are used to the conversation about how to manage trust with consumers. Food companies are learning it too, and finding food fraud to be a significant concern. Food fraud “comes back to trust,” according to Renata McGuire of NSF Consulting and Technical Services. “Do I trust this brand?” McGuire, along with Sylvain Charlebois, dean


CoCoRaHS’s map of precipitation over southern Ontario and Quebec for May 5, 2017. (Cocorahs.org)

Towns evacuated as heavy rains pelt Eastern Canada

Toronto/Ottawa | Reuters — Torrential rains lashed parts of central and Eastern Canada on Friday, causing flooding, flight delays and traffic disruptions, and the prime minister said the federal government was ready to provide help if necessary. The provinces of Ontario and Quebec have been dealing with the fallout of heavy spring rainfall this week,



(AFSC.ca)

Alberta recruits new board for AFSC

Alberta’s provincial government has named a new board of directors to its farm financing and crop insurance agency, to replace the board it fired last year. Agriculture Minister Oneil Carlier on Thursday announced the appointment of a new eight-member board for the provincial Agriculture Financial Services Corp., (AFSC), which has been handled by an interim

(CBSA-asfc.gc.ca)

Trump tells Canada, Mexico he won’t terminate NAFTA treaty yet

Washington | Reuters — U.S. President Donald Trump told the leaders of Canada and Mexico on Wednesday that he will not terminate the NAFTA treaty at this stage, but will move quickly to begin renegotiating it with them, a White House said. The announcement came after White House officials disclosed that Trump and his advisers


U.S. President Donald Trump speaks April 18 at Snap-on Tools’ headquarters in Kenosha, Wisconsin. (Video screengrab from Whitehouse.gov)

White House readies order to quit NAFTA

Washington | Reuters — The White House is considering a draft executive order to withdraw the U.S. from the North American Free Trade Agreement, a senior Trump administration official said on Wednesday. It was unclear whether the order would be enacted by President Donald Trump, who has vowed to pull out from the U.S./Mexico/Canada trade