WHY IT MATTERS: Farmers in the path of infrastructure projects find themselves embroiled in an expropriation process, some of which have led to complaints that they and their farm operations were harmed by unclear timelines.

The project in question would overhaul the junction of Provincial Trunk Highway 3 and Winnipeg’s South Perimeter Highway at the community of Oak Bluff. The province has plans for a new interchange replacing the busy intersection. In the process, expropriations will impact about 19 properties, four to five farm families and 100 acres of productive farmland.

Local government says they have little power when provincial infrastructure projects want to carve through the community.

Brad Erb, Reeve of the RM of Macdonald and a farmer himself in the Oak Bluff area, said the municipality has been reduced to a bystander role in decisions that will fundamentally reshape local agricultural operations.

“Our primary role in this whole thing was … just making sure that (the province) was dealing with the landowners and the community in a transparent way, so that they know the project is happening,” Erb said.

The municipality has no say in the expropriation process itself. That authority rests entirely with the province. Yet, Erb noted, the municipality will inherit potentially deteriorated road networks once construction wraps.

“We want to make sure that when we get that, they meet a certain standard. We don’t want deteriorated infrastructure like roadways and everything once we take ownership,” Erb said.

Consultation gaps frustrate farmers

There is further frustration on how the results of the expropriation will clash with operational realities facing farmers, and a feeling that consultations dismissed those concerns.

The expropriation will leave behind fragmented parcels that undermine farm efficiency, Erb said small fields that technically remain productive, but don’t align with modern equipment or economies of scale.

“They’re certainly not desirable or practical if it’s a five acre or 10 acre or 15-acre parcel. I mean sure, that’s farmable, but it’s not efficient by any stretch,” Erb said.

For farmers, especially new entrants or those renting land, the uncertainty around expropriation complicates long-term planning and financial stability. Yet there’s no clear timeline for when offers will be made or when the project will break ground, critics argue.

That echoes complaints levied in 2019 and 2020 by farmers in the path of the planned Lake St. Martin outlet channel. Farmers there complained the uncertain timelines held farms and homes in limbo, making farm planning difficult. Further complaints argued that farmers got little insight into what they’d be offered for their land prior to the expropriations going through.

Erb’s dual perspective as both reeve and farmer captures the potential tension of such infrastructure development.

“This overpass is long overdue. That’s speaking as a farmer. The traffic and safety concerns in our community are horrible,” he said.

“I just want to make sure that those farmers who are affected are fairly compensated.”

Industry calls for policy change

Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP) said the situation underscores the need for a more rigorous framework that questions whether farmland removal is necessary in the first place.

“We want to protect farmland and make sure agriculture can remain an important part of the economy, and we want to minimize and actually have no farmland lost,” said Colin Hornby, KAP general manager. “The other part of this is wanting to make sure that we do have good, high-quality infrastructure so that we can move products to market.”

Hornby questioned whether acres truly need to be taken out of production, or whether alternatives could be found. He reaffirmed KAP’s commitment to ensuring landowners receive fair value and that farmland loss is minimized.

KAP said it will continue pressing provincial and municipal governments to safeguard agricultural interests and establish clearer standards for consultation and compensation.

Province defends process

The province maintained it’s following proper protocols.

“The department understands the difficulties and challenges that expropriation can have on land owners and ensures that the process is carried out in a respectful manner with all property owners,” a spokesperson wrote in an email to the Co-operator.

Construction timelines remain unclear, but offers to affected landowners are expected soon.

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The RCMP officially opened their promised Niverville detachment on Monday, Nov. 3. The new building was opened to the public to mark the occasion.

The 3,000-square-foot facility began construction in early 2023 and will be staffed by four officers and one civilian employee, according to the RCMP.

WHY IT MATTERS: The RCMP detachment opens as rural Manitoba grapples with ongoing property crime concerns affecting farm operations.

“We are extremely proud to officially open this new detachment to better serve the ever growing and vibrant community of Niverville,” said assistant commissioner Scott McMurchy, commanding officer of the Manitoba RCMP, in a Nov. 3 release. “Many of our officers live in the community with their families and I know they are looking forward to providing the very best in policing services to a community they call home.”

The office will operate Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Services will include general inquiries and special occasion licences. Criminal record check services will be on offer Tuesday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Officers from the St-Pierre-Jolys detachment will continue to assist Niverville as needed, the RCMP added.

Local need for police

The new detachment provides peace of mind as the town expands, said Niverville Mayor Myron Dyck.

“As the Town of Niverville continues to grow, we are thankful for the RCMP presence in our community,” Dyck said. “The opening of this new detachment is an exciting continuation of that presence and will provide peace of mind to residents that a detachment is now so close to home.”

Keystone Agricultural Producers and Manitoba farmers have raised concerns about rising rural crime rates for years, as have farmers and farm groups in other parts of the Prairies. Incidents getting increased attention include thefts of fuel, equipment and livestock.

Farm groups have argued for several action items in regards to rural policing, including response times. Last year, KAP’s fall district meeting included a special presentation from a legal expert on landowners’ rights when it comes to self-protection from crime.

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Glenice Deterville, a researcher with Brandon University’s Rural Development Institute, worked with a team of researchers led by the institute’s director, Wayne Kelly. In a study of 84 municipalities, they found only 13 per cent had climate action plans — even though the province has faced severe flooding, disruptive wildfires and droughts over the past decade.

“Many municipalities have just a handful of staff, often with no specialized climate expertise,” Deterville said. “In the smaller communities, one person might handle everything from economic development to the emergency management, leaving little bandwidth for just the climate planning.”

WHY IT MATTERS: Small and rural Manitoba municipalities lack the staff, money and expertise to develop climate action plans for dealing with floods, droughts and wildfires, with only 13 per cent having formal climate strategies, according to new research.

The gap between urban and rural is stark. Larger centres have staff and budgets to develop formal plans, while smaller municipalities operate with part-time workers and tight budgets, Deterville said at the Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation Conference on Sept. 25 in Brandon.

Most rural municipalities are tucking climate issues into emergency plans or development documents instead of creating dedicated strategies. Only 13 per cent had community energy plans, and 15 per cent had climate vulnerability plans.

“I was very surprised at the results that we got, especially when we got the spreadsheet with all the data about all the different climate plans,” Deterville said.

Regional approaches vary

The researchers found regional differences. Northern municipalities focused on emergency planning, central Manitoba on flood preparedness and eastern regions on development plans.

Several barriers prevent better planning, Deterville said. First, many municipalities can’t afford the data and technical analysis needed. Provincial and federal funding exists but is often short-term and project-based, making long-term planning difficult.

Politics also plays a role. Municipal leaders often prioritize economic development because it shows results quickly. Climate planning takes years and sometimes looks like duplication of existing emergency plans.

“Municipalities, they are too small to solve climate change alone, but too large to address it solely through hyper local adaptation,” Deterville added.

Collaboration offers hope

The study found one bright spot: some municipalities are pooling resources. Francophone and eastern municipalities have partnered on climate action, showing collective approaches can work — though collaboration remains limited.

The researchers recommend provincial and federal governments fund training and technical staff for municipalities. They also call for stable, long-term funding instead of short-term project money.

“To move forward, we must shift from reactive integration to proactive climate governance,” Deterville said. “That means creating climate specific plans, building local capacity, embedding sustainable development goals in measurable ways, and fostering collaboration across municipalities and with higher levels of government.”

The Association of Manitoba Municipalities (AMM) plans to do a review of recent climate events soon, said the organization’s executive director Denys Volkov.

“Municipalities, in collaboration with their emergency co-ordinators and the Province of Manitoba, will conduct a comprehensive review of the recent wildfire events in Manitoba, consistent with our approach following flood emergencies, to identify lessons learned and enhance our collective capacity for coordinated emergency response moving forward,” Volkov said in a statement to the Co-operator.

The Co-operator contacted multiple Manitoba municipalities for comment but did not receive responses by press time.

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The annual employee event earlier this fall also included $35,000 each to a basketball court in Killarney, supportive housing in Steinbach and heating upgrades at Neepawa’s recreation centre.

Each of the three communities are hubs for HyLife, with a feed mill and wash bay in Killarney, main processing plant in Neepawa and head office in Steinbach.

WHY IT MATTERS: Vertically integrated HyLife Foods started as a homegrown Manitoba food processing success story in La Broquerie and became a major employer in Neepawa. Majority ownership of the company was sold to Thai-based Charoen Pokphand Foods Public Company Limited in 2019.

“Each year, more than 1,000 HyLife team members, business partners, and community members come together to enjoy a gourmet meal prepared by the HyLife Culinary Team, participate in friendly sports competitions, and enjoy family-friendly activities like face painting, games, and more,” a Sept. 29 HyLife release said. “It’s a time to connect, celebrate, and, most importantly, give back.”

The company estimates the event has seen $1.7 million donated to local charities since it started in 2006.

Projects boosted

Money for the Killarney basketball court for will be used for concrete repairs, new nets and resizing due to regulation standards, according to the Sept. 29 press release.

“I can’t wait to see this already well-loved basketball court become a space for even more community members to come together,” local teacher Lisa Shiels said in the same release. “This HyLife donation will be a massive help in bringing this community even closer.”

Money going to Steinbach will go into the pool for Steinbach Community Outreach, which is building 65 supportive housing units in partnership with Eden Health Care Services.

“We’re joining forces with Eden Health Care Services to house those in our community who are living in poverty and facing serious mental health challenges, and this donation from HyLife is a massive help in supporting this important project,” said Charlene Kroeker, office manager of Steinbach Community Outreach.

In Neepawa, meanwhile, heating unit upgrades hope to keep programs like gymnastics running through winter at the Yellowhead Community Recreation Centre.

“We were able to source a brand new, up-to-date heating unit, and this Fun Days donation will be a big help in the cost, and now we don’t have to worry about events being cancelled in the winter,” said Crystal Rannie, the centre’s director of operations.

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The world’s second largest economy is looking to bolster its ailing rural economy and achieve food security, as villagers increasingly move to cities for higher paying jobs, leaving its farms battling a shortage of labour.

Looking to widen income channels for farmers, the ministry urged provincial authorities to form and beef up new agriculture businesses, such as farmers’ cooperatives and family farms.

It also called for steps to encourage employment of migrant workers so as to raise their incomes.

The ministry backed activities such as development of resource contracting, property leasing, and shareholding in operating properties.

It asked rural collective bodies to participate in providing services such as production and labour.

The state owns all farmland in China, where farmers have decades-long land lease rights that collective groups exercise on their behalf.

China passed legislation in June to strengthen protection of farmers’ land rights and support development of village collectives, which will take effect in May 2025.

— Reporting by Mei Mei Chu

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Until there are enough charging sites that drivers feel no constraints on travel, electric vehicle purchase will be a hard sell. And until there are enough electric vehicles to create demand for those charging stations, there isn’t an urgent push to install them.

When Western Canada’s premiers met last month, federal clean energy regulations were one of the topics discussed. A June 27 summary of the conference noted that premiers “expressed concern that the federal Clean Electricity Regulations are unattainable and unaffordable for some jurisdictions given current technologies and timelines.”

When it comes to electric vehicles in rural Canada, they have a point.

For rural Canadians as a whole to be convinced to buy electric, I suspect the inconvenience of finding a charging site will have to equate with the current level of hassle in finding a gas station.

If that’s the line, we’re nowhere close.

A directory of public charging stations run by the website ChargeHub shows 68 locations within the City of Winnipeg and 37 in the City of Brandon. The rest of the province, together, has 13, five of which are in Headingley, barely outside the perimeter.

That isn’t a robust network, especially when most aspects of rural life require driving.

If the federal government wants vehicles out here to ditch gas, a veritable explosion of infrastructure investment is needed. No wonder the provinces are nervous about who would foot that bill.

To compare another technology, consider cell phones. Almost everyone has one, and they’ve been in common use for the last 20 years. Although most residents need service and decades have elapsed in which to build the necessary infrastructure, there are still wide swaths of rural Canada with little to no coverage.

After all, providing a high level of service to a sparse population is a hard financial case to make.

As vehicle electrification moves forward, we need to guard against similar service gaps.

None of that considers the indirect issues of a widespread switch to electric.

There is the question of the power grid. Manitoba may have an advantage there. Our ready access to hydro is frequently cited by companies who set up shop in this province. Manitoba Hydro’s own info page on electric vehicles boasts low rates and locally produced power.

At the same time, though, the Crown corporation recommends charging vehicles between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. to help free up electrical supply during the day.

Fire is another indirect consideration. Electric vehicle fires are notoriously difficult to extinguish.

As the electric vehicle wave approaches, fire departments are adding new procedures, training and equipment geared specifically for that kind of threat. But in rural Canada, many fire departments rely on volunteers and may not have the resources of larger, urban departments.

If everyone’s going electric, local first responders must also be given the tools needed to properly serve their communities.

Yet another consideration brings us back to infrastructure.

Electric vehicles are fun to drive, or so says everyone I’ve met who has tried one. They have torque in spades.

They’re also a lot heavier, as much as 33 per cent heavier for new electric SUVs and trucks, according to an April report from Global News.

That has obvious implications in terms of accident severity, but that much extra mass will also weigh heavily on road infrastructure.

Aside from the added burden of electric passenger vehicles, electric semis are being introduced by companies like Tesla and Freightliner. But road maintenance is already a perennial struggle in a climate that freezes, thaws and floods with regularity.

READ MORE: BEV Sierra to debut in 2024

Every spring, trucks need to navigate around weight restrictions. What kind of adjustments will be needed if suddenly the traffic is so much heavier? How much extra maintenance will it mean for the province in the long run?

I’m not trying to be a naysayer. Innovation should be encouraged and sustainability solutions sought. But when it comes to rural Canada and electric vehicles, there are very real logistical questions that must be answered.

The post Editor’s Take: The rural problem with EVs appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

“It’s just kind of like what I’ve always known and what I’ve always loved,” said the Anola-area future veterinarian.

Why it matters: Veterinarian shortages, particularly in large animal practice, are a concern throughout the Prairies.

It will now be a little easier financially for her to achieve that dream.

Guilbert is the inaugural winner of the Guy Hobman Award handed out by the University of Saskatchewan’s Western College of Veterinary Medicine.

The scholarship was created in memory of Manitoba businessman and animal lover Guy Hobman, who died in 2017. It pays for the first two years of tuition at the college for a first-year Manitoban student, a value of more than $30,000.

The college is the main source of training for Manitoba’s veterinary hopefuls.

Meet the winner

Guilbert describes herself as someone who “doesn’t win things,” according to an article on the university’s website.

“I instantly called my mom to let her know because [my parents] were rooting for me the whole time. It was a weight off my shoulders when I found out,” she told the university. “I’m really grateful about the experience. It’s amazing. It’s just a very generous donation.”

For her, veterinary school is the next step on a years-long journey of loving and helping animals — a journey that began with Guilbert’s own first steps that she took with help from the family basset hound, Daisy.

“She was the perfect height when I was learning to walk and would help me get around the house faster,” Guilbert said in an interview.

The future veterinarian grew up on an acreage near Anola with various other dogs (Sandy and Pepe le Pew among them). The family also kept cats, including Fred the Second, who was her “rock” from Grade 3 to her second year of university.

“I knew I needed to be in some sort of field involving animals,” Guilbert said. “Also, growing up, I was very interested in … puzzles and problem solving … I also fell in love with the concept of medicine.”

While her peers were squeamish or even fainted during animal dissections in high school, Guilbert found them fascinating. But getting into vet school wasn’t easy. The waitlist is infamously long.

In a 2022 comment to the Co-operator, the Western College of Veterinary Medicine estimated that it receives three applications for every seat reserved for Manitoba students. Until recently, the school reserved seats for 15 Manitobans per year. A funding boost from the province, announced late last year, boosted the annual number to 20.

After high school, Guilbert completed a bachelor degree in biology and, when she wasn’t accepted into veterinary school right away, nearly finished a second degree in environmental science.

“I’m going to get somewhere I want to be eventually,” Guilbert said. “I’m definitely not a quitter.”

While waiting, Guilbert sought all the veterinary experience she could by volunteering with Wildlife Haven Rehabilitation Centre in Ile des Chênes, which treats sick and injured wild animals. On her third try, she was accepted into the veterinary college.

This summer, Guilbert is interning at a vet clinic in Neepawa, where she says she’s gaining valuable experience and mentorship. She has already treated everything from a sick budgie to a cow with a prolapsed uterus.

It’s this kind of mixed practice Guilbert says she’s drawn to — dogs and cats interspersed with trips to farms.

“It’s nice to get out of the clinic and get some fresh air, and then I just really love interacting with the farmers,” she said.

She has also seen how difficult the work can be. Manitoba has a shortage of veterinarians, so the clinic is always busy. She has had to learn while working at full speed, and says she now sees how burnout could be a problem.

“If you’re a little late to an appointment, it’s not because you’re lazy. It’s more of the fact that we are trying very much, just trying our best and trying to balance everything,” she said.

The feeling that she has helped someone makes the job worthwhile, “even if something minor, even if it’s just like a nail trim. I know how my dog is with a nail trim. I just feel like I made someone’s day by doing it for them.”

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Kim gave instructions to revamp irrigation systems, build modern farming machines and create more arable land as he wrapped up the seventh enlarged plenary meeting of the ruling Workers’ Party’s powerful Central Committee on Wednesday.

The meeting began on Sunday to discuss the “urgent” task of improving the agricultural sector.

South Korea has warned of an mounting food crisis in the isolated North, including a recent surge in deaths from hunger in some regions, due in part to what it said was a failure of a new grain policy limiting private crop transactions.

North Korea’s economy has been battered by floods and typhoons, sanctions over its nuclear and missile programmes, and a sharp decline in trade with China amid border closures and COVID-19 lockdowns.

South Korea’s rural development agency estimated the North’s crop production fell nearly four per cent last year from the year before, citing heavy summer rains and other economic conditions.

Kim laid out plans and specific tasks to build “rich and highly-civilized socialist rural communities with advanced technology and modern civilization,” the official KCNA news agency said.

He ordered revamp of the irrigation system to cope with climate change, production of efficient farming machines to modernize production, and reclamation of tidelands to expand farming areas, KCNA said.

A lack of adequate agricultural infrastructure, machinery and supplies including fertilizers and fuel have made North Korea more vulnerable to natural disasters, experts say.

The mountainous country has also sought to expand arable land through tideland reclamation along its west coast since the 1980s, but earlier efforts failed due partly to poor engineering and maintenance.

Under Kim, reclamation projects have been relatively more successful, but with slow progress in converting coastal mudflats into fertile farmland, they did little to ease food shortages, the U.S.-based 38 North project said in late 2021.

“The state media report said they set new goals and action plans, but I don’t see anything new as all of the elements including irrigation and reclamation have already been raised before,” said Lim Eul-chul, a professor of North Korean studies at Kyungnam University in South Korea.

Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean studies in Seoul, also noted the report did not suggest new ideas or a possible change in the grain policy which South Korea blamed for food shortages.

KCNA said Kim stressed the need to tighten discipline in implementing the economic plan, warning against “practices of weakening the organizational and executive power of the cabinet,” and ordered all party units to “get their working efficiency verified.”

The Central Committee also discussed ways to improve the country’s financial management, KCNA reported, without elaborating.

— Hyonhee Shin is a Reuters political and news correspondent in Seoul.

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The continent is facing its worst food crisis ever, with more than one in five Africans — a record 278 million people — facing hunger, according to United Nations estimates.

A major theme of the three-day summit in the Senegalese capital Dakar was that African countries need to boost their food production capacity rather than relying on imports that have left them vulnerable to price spikes and shortages.

The meeting brought together African leaders, development banks and international partners including the United States, the European Union and Britain to mobilize funding and political commitment.

Around 40 countries from across the continent presented agricultural development plans to the bank and other partners, who pledged support for the plans over the next five years to enable the countries to increase food production.

“We’re going to invest in markets, we are going to invest in infrastructure, energy, we’re going to invest in roads, we’re going to invest in storage, all the things that you need to make agriculture work,” African Development Bank president Akinwumi Adesina told Reuters in an interview.

“We must make sure that agriculture allows people to feed themselves. That’s the core of what we are doing here. It’s embarrassing that Africa is not able to feed itself,” Adesina said.

Heavy debt burdens from the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, which raised prices of fuel, grain and edible oils, have added to long-term causes of food insecurity such as climate change and conflict, experts say.

The Ukraine war also disrupted the supply of fertilizer to the continent, pushing prices beyond the reach of farmers.

The bank last year reached a deal and got assurances from fertilizer manufacturers on the continent including Nigeria’s Dangote and Indorama, and Morocco’s OCP that Africa will not be marginalized in the fertilizer supply chain, Adesina said, adding that the bank had made investments in the manufacturers.

“I think we will not have a fertilizer crisis in Africa. The challenge we’re going to have is affordability problem,” he said, adding that governments would have to put support measures in place to make fertilizer affordable for farmers.

— Bate Felix is Reuters’ bureau chief for West and Central Africa, based at Dakar; writing by Nellie Peyton.

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The province on Friday confirmed amendments to regulation 16, attached to its Agricultural and Horticultural Organizations Act, kick in effective Sunday (Jan. 1, 2023). That’s the regulation laying out the membership levels an ag or hort society must maintain to be eligible for various operating grants.

The new rules take effect “amid some societies reporting a drop in membership levels partly due to the pandemic,” the province said Friday.

For agricultural societies, the new rule cuts the minimum threshold from 60 to 40 members. For horticultural societies, the rule cuts the threshold from 50 down to 25 members, except in territorial districts where it’s reduced to 15 members, down from 25.

Covering costs

The province’s 483 ag and hort societies “educate citizens about agriculture, beautify downtowns, and host fall fairs and exhibitions,” the province said Friday.

The grants available to Ontario ag societies under regulation 16 include covering a portion of prize costs, judges’ fees and other costs incurred in hosting ag and food exhibitions, demonstrations and competitions. Those grants cover a third of such costs (two-thirds in northern Ontario) to a maximum $3,000 per year.

Qualifying ag societies can also get grants for improvements to their land and buildings, and separate grants to help defray costs in years where wet weather causes declines in event ticket revenue.

Qualifying ag societies can also get centennial grants of $1,500 for their 100th anniversaries, if the society is setting up a “permanent commemorative structure” to mark the occasion.

Qualifying horticultural societies, meanwhile, can get grants of up to 50 per cent of their annual expenses, to a maximum of $1,000 (or $1,500 if it had 200 or more members in the previous year). — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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