CWB sale to be scrutinized by new Liberal government

But veteran MP Ralph Goodale says the wheat board’s monopoly won’t be restored

The Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) won’t be restored under the new Liberal government, but farmers could finally see its books, kept secret since the government removed its marketing monopoly in 2012. “A number of farmers has raised the question and said the numbers just don’t add up,” Saskatchewan MP and former agriculture minister Ralph Goodale

Canada’s new Agriculture and Agri-Foods Minister Lawrence MacAulay (l) is sworn-in during a ceremony at Rideau Hall in Ottawa November 4, 2015. Photo: REUTERS/Chris Wattie

Lawrence MacAulay sworn in as Canada’s new agriculture minister

Ottawa/Manitoba Co-operator – Only hours after being sworn in by Governor General David Johnston and mere minutes after leaving his first cabinet meeting, Canada’s newly minted Minister of Agriculture paused to speak with reporters gathered on Parliament Hill Nov. 3. “I’m certainly pleased,” said Lawrence MacAulay. “Being a dairy farmer and a seed potato farmer


Rural Secretariat closure worries rural advocacy groups

The federal Conservatives must rethink their decision to close down the Rural Secretariat or create something to replace it, says the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. The last 13 remaining employees at the Rural Secretariat were recently given their notices, spelling the end of the 15-year-old agency, which had a staff of 92 just a year

Supreme Court hammers another nail in wheat board’s coffin

But the Friends of the Canadian Wheat Board 
will continue to pursue a class-action lawsuit for 
$17 billion in compensation

With their appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada rejected, the Friends of the Canadian Wheat Board (FCWB) are vowing to continue with a class-action lawsuit, their last remaining legal avenue for challenging the federal government’s decision to end the board’s monopoly last year. The Supreme Court has refused to hear appeals of the eight

First Crystal City publisher also became premier

The Courier Publishing Company Building, located at 218 Broadway Street South in Crystal City, is the province’s oldest and best remaining example of the once numerous small print shops and community newspapers that sprang up in newly established towns across southern Manitoba during the bustling 1870-1920 settlement era. It also possesses important connections with Thomas


Pardons for border runners raise questions

Now that the CWB is changed, Stephen Harper says farmers who broke the law in the 1990s deserve to be pardoned

Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s decision to pardon some of the western farmers convicted of contravening Customs Act regulations in the 1990s is raising eyebrows. “Where does that stop?” Bob Roehle, a former CWB employee and member of Friends of the Canadian Wheat Board asked. “In a democracy, do I get to choose which laws I

Federal food laws face overhaul

The Harper government is putting the finishing touches to a major revamp of federal food laws to make processors and manufacturers more responsible for food safety while inspectors focus on the risky segments of the business. Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz is expected to present the legislation, known unofficially as the Food Act, to Parliament sometime

Fair treatment for Western farmers began 100 years ago

It was more than a century ago but bitter conflict between farmers and the early western Canadian grain industry still resonates in the childhood memories of old-timers like Harvey English. “It was highway robbery. That’s what it was in those days,” says English, 94. “They were just stealing everything off the farmer that they could


CGC back on drawing board

The Canadian Grain Commission is on the federal government’s radar — again. Last month the commission announced its latest proposals for “modernizing” itself, and the Canada Grain Act it administers. The public has until March 23 to respond. The commission, established in 1912, is Canada’s grain industry watchdog, ensuring the quality of grain exports, arbitrating

Farm Debate Mostly A Rerun Of Earlier Shows

Other than the occasional elbow in the direction of Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz, the two-hour debate among the main political parties on agriculture policy April 11 featured a lot of the same old taunts and promises. Liberal Wayne Easter, Bloc Andre Bellevance and New Democrat Pat Martin, whose downtown Winnipeg riding includes the headquarters of