Democracy Doesn’t Just Happen

It’s election season for farmers. Not only did rural municipalities recently have elections, but producers have received ballots in the mail for director elections to the Canadian Wheat Board. Democracy is great, but it does have its foibles. Overall election activity was up across the province and that’s a good thing. Too many sit on

Animal Industry Comes Of Age

An animal-abuse court case based on the discovery of hundreds of dead, starving, dehydrated and injured hogs in a Notre Dame de Lourdes-area barn earlier this year could be precedent setting on two fronts. The horrific conditions animal-welfare officers found when they were called to the scene and the number of charges laid against the


Boiling Water — But Not For Tea

If ascendant Republicans act on what they say was the clear message sent by voters Nov. 2, the 112th Congress ain’t gonna be a tea party. Oh, something will boil, all right. It may be the fat most politicians claim is stored in all those pork barrels on Capitol Hill. After that, maybe some of

Letters – for Nov. 18, 2010

Dogs in a truck offence – offensive Just when a person is thinking that the urban-rural gap cannot get any wider– Dr. Terry Whiting is quoted in a Manitoba Co-operatorarticle concerning Manitoba’s new animal rights and welfare rules. In the specific quote of concern “Sheriff” Whiting informs us that driving a pickup truck with a


Open Letter To Stan Struthers

After reading the story “New Animal Welfare Laws Give Enforcement Officials New Power,” in the Nov. 11 Manitoba Co-operatorI have some serious concerns with your new top animal welfare officer, Dr. Terry Whiting. Whiting states in the first part of the article that he has the power of a police officer and the power to

Western Bipole III Route Will Cost More

In response to Rosann Wowchuk’s last letter to the editor dated Nov. 4, no one is disputing the need for a Bipole III transmission line. It is Wowchuk’s total disregard for common sense and expert professional advice that is clearly the issue. The rambling western route is almost 500 km longer, which translates to almost


The Luckiest Generation

In the past year, Canada lost its last veteran of the First World War, and as those who have lost parents who served in the Second World War know so well, fewer – now about 400 per week – are with us all the time. That raises concern for those of us brought up in

Grain-Grading Pain

It’s a difficult year to be a grain buyer. Due to bleaching, sprouting, disease and frost, grades are all over the map and a lot of the grading factors are open to human interpretation. The grading standards sound objective. For instance, No. 1 canola may contain up to two per cent distinctly green seeds and


Remembering Don Bousquet

Many readers knew Don Bousquet through his “It’s your business” column, which has been in the Co-operatorfor more than 25 years. Many across Western Canada knew his voice, heard twice daily on his Farm Market News market report, broadcast on Prairie radio stations for the past 36 years. Some may also have seen Don in

Professor Emeritus Bob Parker Passes Away

Professor Emer i tus Bob Parker, who was a longtime member of the University of Manitoba’s department of animal science until his retirement in 1997, passed away Oct. 30 in Winnipeg. Parker, who emigrated from Scotland, first joined the U of M as a research officer in 1959. He went on to get a masters