Articles by Allison Martell | Manitoba Co-operator

Ontario investigating 17 temp agencies after virus outbreaks on farms

"We stand firm against exploitation in our province"

By Allison Martell, GFM Network News, Rod Nickel July 3, 2020

Toronto/Winnipeg | Reuters — Ontario is investigating 17 temporary recruitment agencies, the province’s labour ministry said, after health officials warned that agencies that move workers from farm to farm could be contributing to COVID-19 outbreaks. Canadian farms rely on some 60,000 people who come to Canada on temporary work permits every year, typically living and

File photo of Canada’s chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam at a news conference in Ottawa on April 9, 2020. (Photo: Reuters/Blair Gable)

Crops

Tam seeks details on Ontario’s COVID-19 farm worker guidelines

Windsor-Essex area reports six ag-related outbreaks as of Thursday

By Allison Martell, GFM Network News, Kelsey Johnson June 25, 2020

Ottawa/Toronto | Reuters — Canada’s top public health official said on Thursday she plans to seek more information from Ontario about the province’s plan to allow some COVID-19 positive people with no symptoms to return to their jobs — a risky policy, according to workers’ advocates and some doctors. Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, issued

An image created by Nexu Science Communication, together with Trinity College in Dublin, shows a model structurally representative of a betacoronavirus, the type of virus linked to COVID-19. (Nexu Science Communication via Reuters)

COVID-19 cases, deaths lead Ontario to test migrant farm workers

By Allison Martell, GFM Network News, Kelsey Johnson June 10, 2020

Toronto/Ottawa | Reuters — Ontario has started testing about 8,000 migrant farm workers for COVID-19 in a hard-hit rural region of the province after two young workers died and the coronavirus was found on at least 17 farms, according to the local public health authority. The Ontario outbreak has centred on farms in the Windsor-Essex

Parmesan wheels seasoning. (Claudio Ventrella/iStock/Getty Images)

Dairy cattle, Livestock

‘Buyer beware’ on Canada’s cheese concessions, EU exporters say

By Allison Martell, GFM Network News, Philip Blenkinsop September 13, 2018

Toronto/Brussels | Reuters — A trade deal meant to give European cheesemakers more access to the Canadian market is falling short of its promise in its first full year, government data show, frustrating the European industry, which blames a year-old Ottawa quota system. Under the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with the European Union,

(Canada Border Services Agency video screengrab)

Markets

Dispute resolution in focus as NAFTA talks drag

By Allison Martell, GFM Network News, Julie Gordon August 31, 2018

Toronto/Washington | Reuters –– Canada and the United States ended talks to revamp the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) on Friday without reaching a deal. One longstanding issue is Chapter 19 of NAFTA, a dispute resolution mechanism that the United States significantly scaled back in a bilateral deal it reached with Mexico. What is

Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland takes part in a news conference at the Canadian embassy in Washington, D.C. on Aug. 31. (Photo: Reuters/Chris Wattie)

Dairy cattle, Markets

U.S. to move ahead with Mexico pact, keep talking to Canada

By Allison Martell, GFM Network News, Julie Gordon, Sharay Angulo August 31, 2018

Washington/Toronto | Reuters — Contentious U.S.-Canada trade talks ended on Friday with no deal to revamp the North American Free Trade Agreement after the mood soured, and President Donald Trump notified Congress of his intent to sign a bilateral trade pact with Mexico. U.S. and Canadian trade officials set plans to resume their talks on

Canadian maple syrup for sale at Montreal’s Marche Atwater in 2016. (Lorraine Boogich/iStock/Getty Images)

Crops

With maple syrup tariff, Canada-U.S. trade dispute spills beyond metals

By Allison Martell, GFM Network News June 4, 2018

Toronto | Reuters — Canada’s retaliation against U.S. President Donald Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs includes proposed duties on U.S. maple syrup, a nod to a national symbol and a powerful industry in Quebec that could hurt producers in Maine. While small in dollar value, the tariff shows how Canada’s retaliation has turned a dispute

Crops, Markets

Canada to impose tariffs on U.S., challenge at WTO

By Allison Martell, GFM Network News June 1, 2018

Reuters — Canada will impose retaliatory tariffs on $16.6 billion worth of U.S. exports and challenge U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs under the North American Free Trade Agreement and the World Trade Organization (WTO), Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said on Thursday. The Canadian tariffs are set to go into effect on July 1 and

Crops

Rail consolidation unlikely to involve CP for now: CEO

By Allison Martell, GFM Network News March 2, 2015

Toronto | Reuters — Canadian Pacific Railway is unlikely to be involved in the consolidation of the North American industry in the short term, CEO Hunter Harrison said on Monday. Canada’s No. 2 railway, which also has operations in the U.S., discussed a deal with CSX Corp. last year but could not reach an agreement.

Crops

Industry braces for impact as CN lockout deadline nears

By Allison Martell, GFM Network News February 23, 2015

Toronto | Reuters –– A looming lockout at Canada’s biggest railway threatens to delay imports from Asia and may compound a U.S. West Coast port logjam unless last-ditch contract talks succeed Monday. Canadian National Railway (CN) and Unifor, the union representing its 4,800 mechanical, clerical and trucking workers in Canada, resumed talks on Monday, hours

Britain begins negotiations to join Trans-Pacific pact

Canada, Indonesia launch trade pact talks

Nutrien to further bump up potash output

GFM Network News

Britain begins negotiations to join Trans-Pacific pact

Canada, Indonesia launch trade pact talks

Nutrien to further bump up potash output

Author Archives Allison Martell

Ontario investigating 17 temp agencies after virus outbreaks on farms

Tam seeks details on Ontario’s COVID-19 farm worker guidelines

COVID-19 cases, deaths lead Ontario to test migrant farm workers

‘Buyer beware’ on Canada’s cheese concessions, EU exporters say

Dispute resolution in focus as NAFTA talks drag

U.S. to move ahead with Mexico pact, keep talking to Canada

With maple syrup tariff, Canada-U.S. trade dispute spills beyond metals

Canada to impose tariffs on U.S., challenge at WTO

Rail consolidation unlikely to involve CP for now: CEO

Industry braces for impact as CN lockout deadline nears

Podcasts

Ag-economics and COVID-19, opportunities in grain marketing, whether weather and commodity prices

Special Podcast

AgCanadaTV

AGCanadaTV: In Case You Missed It – Your National Ag News Recap for the week ending June 18, 2021.

GFM Network News

Podcasts

Special Podcast

AgCanadaTV

Daily Newsletter