A new agency will use funds from a new levy on imported pork to pay for research and promotion for the Canadian pork sector. Federal Agriculture Minister Marie Claude Bibeau on Thursday officially announced the creation of the Canadian Pork Promotion and Research Agency (PRA). The Farm Products Council of Canada (FPCC) and Agriculture and
Feds back pork producers with new levy on imports
New national pork agency to be up and running next summer
Grim prospects of U.K.-Canada trade deal by end of year
The U.K. is preoccupied with ensuring there’s not a hard Brexit from the EU
As prospects of a trade deal between the United Kingdom and the European Union collapse, there is growing doubt in a post-Brexit pact involving Canada being completed by the end of the year. The U.K. left the EU on Jan. 31 and is nearing the end of an 11-month implementation period where essentially agreements remain status quo while the U.K. negotiates a more permanent
Uncertainty in global markets continues with pandemic
Protectionist policies could exacerbate food insecurity globally
The impact of COVID-19’s second wave is continuing to cause uncertainty in global markets. According to the World Trade Organization (WTO), between October 2019 and May 2020, G20 economies implemented 154 new trade or related measures, finding 95 to be trade facilitating and 59 as trade restrictive. “In the early stages of the pandemic, several
Opinion: No winner for Canadian farmers
No matter the outcome of the U.S. election, subsidies are going to keep flowing
No matter who wins the upcoming election in the United States, Canadian farmers can expect to continue facing tough competition from their heavily subsidized peers south of the border. Fairly early in his 2016 election bid, it became clear producers saw Trump as the favoured candidate. His nationalist rhetoric helped win farmers over. A candidate
Opinion: Plenty of work for new-look Agriculture Committee
This body is generally fair minded and pragmatic, an anomaly for Ottawa
Members of Parliament sitting on the committee studying agricultural and agri-food issues will have no shortage of topics to explore. The first meeting of the current parliamentary session was held on Oct. 8, the latest since July. It was then MPs were concluding the work they had done studying business risk management (BRM) programs. Between
Big Two railways release plans for winter
Snow-clearing equipment among investments at CN, CP
Canada’s major railways have filed their winter contingency plans, as they are now required by law to do. Since updates to the Canada Transportation Act in 2018, Canada’s major rail companies have been required to publish winter plans and can be forced to pay up if they fail to deliver on certain promises of railcars.
Dairy farmers press feds on compensation promises, again
Canada’s dairy farmers are again calling on the federal government to make good on its promise to compensate producers, after giving up market share of the supply-managed industry to more foreign competitors through trade pacts. The Liberal government, most recently in its Sept. 23 speech from the throne, has told Dairy Farmers of Canada (DFC)
Opinion: Federal Liberals making good on throne promises
So far the feds are ready to put money where their mouth is
The governing minority Liberals are making good on recent promises made to those living in rural communities. They are building on commitments to enhance rural broadband access, pay compensation for supply-managed industries impacted by trade deals and look to agriculture to be an economic driver in the fight against climate change from the throne speech
Protein supercluster defends against critical report
Federal funding body says it’s on track to meet targets and making diligent investments
Protein Industries Canada remains confident in its pace of funding projects to grow the sector, despite a recent report from the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO). The PBO reported the governing Liberals 2017 Innovation Superclusters Initiative has been slow to select projects and spend money. In 2017, five “superclusters” were given a total of $918 million to spend
Opinion: Reason for cautious optimism after throne speech
The biggest-ticket item for farmers in the government’s upcoming plans is better rural internet
The recent throne speech was predictably light on specifics, but producers should be cautiously optimistic about most of the ambitious legislative plans laid out by the minority governing Liberals. The biggest potential win comes in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s commitment to enhance rural broadband access. “In the last six months, many more people have worked
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
