A series of hard-hitting articles on migrant farm workers in Canada has shone a light on some realities that will make many Canadians uncomfortable. The Globe and Mail series was undoubtedly a shock to many readers unaware migrant farm workers were even ‘a thing’ in Canada. It details conditions that will leave a pretty clear
Editor’s Take: A stain on the Canada brand
Editor’s Take: Where’s the beef?
When did Manitoba become a laggard? There was a time when the Keystone province embraced bold visions, naysayers be damned. Duff Roblin’s response to the 1950 flood is an excellent example of this lost glory. Roblin, a Progressive Conservative, assumed the role of premier in the late spring of 1958, and before long he was
Editor’s Take: Send in the clowns
The finding of ‘double criminality’ by B.C. Supreme Associate Chief Justice Heather Holmes in the Huawei case last week dashed any hopes of a quick and orderly wrap-up to Canada’s ongoing diplomatic war with China. Justice Holmes ruled that the crimes Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou is charged with in the U.S. are also crimes in
Editor’s Take: China is our greatest ‘frenemy’
In recent years it has become increasingly apparent that China makes its own rules when it comes to trade. Its 2002 membership in the World Trade Organization is an excellent example. The rest of the world agreed to give China open access to markets, ostensibly in exchange for similar access to China’s. One can hardly
Editor’s Take: Writing a new story for Canada’s grain sector
Ask any writer and they’ll tell you the hardest thing is writing a story without an antagonist. Heroes are a dime a dozen, but it’s the villains who are usually more interesting characters, providing the conflict that drives the plot along and captures the interest of the reader. As our Allan Dawson reports in our
Editorial: Agriculture slips through the safety net
Canadian agriculture is very proud of its prominence in the national economy, and rightly so. As StatsCan noted in a 2019 report, agriculture and food contributed $49 billion to the nation’s GDP in 2015, or 2.6 per cent of total GDP. That’s been a target of growth too, as various projection and government plans have
Editor’s Take: Stress cracks but no fractures
Now is when the systemic shortfalls are beginning to show. It’s only when a complex system is put under stress that underlying and underappreciated issues start to appear. Think of the 2008 global financial crisis as an example. Prior to it being revealed as the precarious house of cards that it was, housing in the
Ready or not, spring seeding is upon us
Spring is in the air and farmers say they’ll deal with what comes their way
Bill Campbell says he’s ready for spring — his combine just got back from its annual winter check-up. The Minto-area farmer and president of the Keystone Agricultural Producers says he’s ready to finish last year’s harvest as soon as his fields are passable this spring. That’s adding to what’s already going to be a short and stressful spring
Editor’s Take: Winds of change
The question that landed with a gentle thud on the virtual meeting table during a conference call of Glacier FarmMedia editors this week was a good one: “Isn’t the real question not ‘What’s going to change?’ but rather ‘What should change?’” The topic at hand had been how our publications group will cover the myriad
Editor’s Take: Who’d have thought?
It’s been another week of surprises. Who’d have thought we’d see gasoline prices below 60 cents a litre again? Who’d have thought we’d see the federal government backstopping 75 per cent of the wage bill for the entire country? Who’d have guessed the concept of a universal basic income would suddenly be on the minds
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
