Gerry Ritz Archives - Page 8 of 28 - Manitoba Co-operator

Canadian Wheat Board building in Winnipeg

FNA wants more time for CWB bid

Is a sale being sped up ahead of the next federal election?

By Allan Dawson October 24, 2014

Farmers of North America (FNA) says with harvest delays it needs another six to eight weeks to pitch its plan for farmers to buy CWB from the federal government. But FNA president and CEO James Mann fears CWB will be sold first — probably to a foreign multinational grain company. “I would say I don’t

Crops, National news

Right to save seed will be absolutely clear, Ritz vows

The government has introduced amendments to its Agricultural Growth Act  to make the language around seed saving clearer

By Alex Binkley October 17, 2014

Legislation updating plant breeders’ rights will be amended to make it absolutely clear that farmers can save and replant seeds from crops they have grown, says Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz. It was one of several amendments the government plans for the Agriculture Growth Act, which was forced through second reading in the Commons in June.

Cereals, National news

Opposition MPs decry decision to not make CWB’s 2012-13 annual report public

Wheat board critics, including the government, accused it of secrecy, but now  Gerry Ritz has deemed CWB’s activities are too commercially sensitive to release

By Allan Dawson October 3, 2014

Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz’s decision to keep CWB’s 2012-13 annual report from the public is being criticized by opposition members of Parliament. Farmers and taxpayers have a right to see CWB’s financial statements Liberal MP Ralph Goodale and NDP Agriculture Critic Malcolm Allen said in separate interviews last week. “It should be remembered whatever revenue

Cereals, National news

Will railways be fined $100,000 a week instead of daily?

Ottawa isn’t saying, but the Canada Transportation Act states fines apply ‘per violation’

By Allan Dawson October 3, 2014

CN Rail is facing federal fines for failing to meet legislated weekly targets for moving grain — this much is known. But the big question in the grain industry last week was whether those $100,000 fines will be levied per day — as federal officials indicated in press statements last winter — or whether the penalty

National news

CWB 2012-13 annual report: notes

By Allan Dawson, Manitoba Co-operator Staff September 30, 2014

Looking for CWB’s 2012-13 annual report? You won’t find it. All that Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz tabled in Parliament in July were the notes to CWB’s financial statement, which the public is having trouble finding. The Manitoba Co-operator has received a number of requests for the notes submitted to the ag-minister by CWB and we’ve obtained a copy

CWB’s 2012-13 annual report was tabled in Parliament four months late, but most of the report has been deemed too commercially sensitive to release, much to the dismay of the Friends of the Canadian Wheat Board. photo: cwb

Cereals, News

CWB annual report: notes but no numbers

The Friends of the Canadian Wheat Board suspects the report is too politically sensitive to be made public

By Allan Dawson September 25, 2014

How well did CWB, the government grain company formed after Ottawa ended the Canadian Wheat Board’s sales monopoly July 31, 2012, do during its first year in an open market? We may never know. Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz tabled CWB’s 2012-13 annual report, including its audited financial statement, in Parliament in July. But only the

Crops, Opinion

Five years lost as farmers wait for better default protection on grain sales

Leaving feed mills exempt from coverage under existing licensing and bonding leaves farmers vulnerable to losses

By Doug Chorney September 23, 2014

In 2009, western Canadian farm groups submitted a report to the Honourable Gerry Ritz, minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, outlining options for a program that would provide security to producers when grain buyers defaulted on payments. The main options were fund-based, insurance-based or bond-based programs. It was not that there wasn’t already a form

Cereals, Crops, News

Farmers of North America has a plan for a farmer-owned CWB

What isn’t clear is if CWB supports the idea or if the organizations have even discussed it

By Allan Dawson September 19, 2014

Farmers of North America (FNA) wants to help farmers get majority ownership of CWB, but neither organization is saying whether they’ve discussed the plan or if CWB supports it. Saskatoon-headquartered FNA, which describes itself as “a business alliance of farmers dedicated to maximizing farm profitability,” outlines on its website a plan to create a farmer-owned

A flooded field in Manitoba this past July.

Crops, Local news

KAP, APAS fear pleas for AgriRecovery falling on deaf ears

KAP says aid is needed to offset some of the ongoing affects of excessive moisture and cuts to AgriStability

By Allan Dawson September 5, 2014

Hopes are fading of extra federal and provincial assistance for farmers affected by moisture this year, Manitoba and Saskatchewan farm leaders say. “I am very concerned, unlike in 2011 when I had a real good feeling that government would be doing something for farmers,” Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP) president Doug Chorney said in an interview

Cereals, Oilseeds, Opinion

Editorial: Trends and anomalies

By Laura Rance-Unger September 1, 2014

It’s easy to get a little giddy when things go much better than expected. For example, take last year’s bin buster of a crop. By any measure, it was an astounding production feat. Western Canadian farmers shattered all previous records on most major crops, growing a whopping 76 million tonnes, 50 per cent higher than

Daily Network News

Canada October retail sales down 0.2 per cent; seen up 1.2 per cent in November

Pork imports to drop after 2026 as Philippines ramps up hog repopulation drive

Selling GMO tomato seeds to Canadian gardeners ‘reckless’ say advocates

Tag Archives Gerry Ritz