By Eugene W. Plawiuk
Saskatchewan Election Coverage 1999 NDP loses farm support
Monthly Review Special Issue: Hungry For Profit
Agribusiness and Globalization
Weekly Farm Newspaper
A Special Link To News Stories About Canada's Farm Crisis from the Western Producer
Also see FARM CRISIS
Special Feature From Western Producer Magazine
CBC News Special: Down on the Farm
Going backstage with three Prairie farm families
Western Producer Special Feature May 20, 1999. From green shoots to golden harvest, the farm family makes it happen. It might sometimes seem that the story of farming is one of government assistance packages, transportation reform and market outlooks. In reality, farming is the story of people. For the second year in a row, three families have agreed to let our reporters follow them through the growing season, from seeding to when the frost covers the barn roof.
GOODALE TO HIGHLIGHT VALUE OF CANADA-U.S. TRADE IN ``MYTH-BUSTING'' SPEECH TO MILLERS
U.S. determined to rein in
Canadian Wheat Board
WTO at odds: Developing nations want
more say at Seattle summit
Farm country under siege Deregulation, WTO stalk the farm
Mexican Agribusiness Trade Mission Visits Canada
WTO Appeal Ruling Poses No Threat to Supply Management
Canada Appeals Against WTO Dairy Ruling
Canada's trade and agriculture ministers launched a formal appeal Thursday of a World Trade Organization ruling that said Canada's dairy pricing system for certain exports constituted an export subsidy. ``Canada believes that its dairy industry pricing practices conform with WTO rules,'' Agriculture Minister Lyle Vanclief said in a joint statement with International Trade Minister Sergio Marchi.
WTO appoves Canada-U.S. sanctions
against European Union
The World Trade Organization (WTO) has
approved a Canadian and American request to impose
sanctions against Europe because of its ban on
hormone-treated beef, trade officials said on Thursday
But the WTO also agreed to a European Union (EU) request
for a neutral arbitration panel to assess the amount due. The
dispute will now go to the WTO dispute settlement body.
The panel is to decide by July 12 on the level of sanctions
Canada and the U.S. may impose on the European Union.
Any implementation of sanctions will be delayed until then.
Agriculture trade disputes that have led to border blockades between
Alberta and Montana can be solved with a simple phone call, Premier Ralph
Klein told a conference of farmers and ranchers here Tuesday.
Speaking at a gathering of 200 industry members from Canada and the
United States, Klein rejected the need for federal intervention in what he
referred to as regional "skirmishes."
Canada's health protection branch has been criticized for failing to put legal regulations in place for the amount of antibiotics and hormones remaining in meat that reaches the supermarket shelf. Last year, an independent audit conducted for the European Union exposed the lack of legal guidelines and suggested the Canadian government do something about it.
A lobby group that speaks for the food industry says Ottawa isn't doing enough to counter media reports that question food safety. This week, the Food and Consumer Products Manufacturers of Canada expressed those concerns in an open letter to the ministers of health and agriculture.
U.S. Criticises Canada GM Proposal
The European Union will seek to ''clarify'' a key food safety agreement when dealing with the thorny issue of genetically modified (GM) crops in upcoming World Trade Organization talks, an EU aide said Thursday.
Canada's food safety in danger: scientists
Cuts feared to poultry inspectors
Some government veterinarians and inspectors are concerned that the results of a current federal study will allow food companies to market unhealthy-looking poultry meat. The agency in charge of making sure our food is safe, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, has commissioned a risk-assessment study on poultry. It will look at which poultry diseases are dangerous to humans and which are not.
The number of people who inspect food in Canada has been shrinking since the creation of a federal food inspection agency two years ago. Federal documents obtained by CBC News through Access to Information requests also reveal that there are more top managers -- executive positions have doubled. There are now 183 fewer people working in food inspection than when the agency was founded.
Beef trade war with Europe fuels health fears in Canada
For cattle producer Ben Thorlakson, the tiny white or pink growth-hormone pellets that he inserts in the ears of his animals are the difference between profit and loss. The hormones make the cattle gain weight faster, saving Mr. Thorlakson about $50 or $60 an animal by the time its ready for slaughter. And in these days of low beef prices, $50 or $60 makes all the difference. Without the hormones, "it would place us in a loss position in the feeding of our cattle," he said in an interview. The hormones that keep Mr. Thorlakson's operation afloat, however, are the same drugs that have Europeans refusing to eat Canadian beef, saying hormone-treated beef could cause cancer or hurt the organ development of young children. They have blocked the sale of Canadian and American beef in Europe for the past 10 years. Canadian and American beef producers and their governments, on the other hand, say the meat that comes from such cattle is perfectly safe.
PMO raised concerns about tests of cow hormone
The Prime Minister's Office stepped in with serious concerns about Health Canada's safety review of a hormone that boosts milk production in cows, according to a departmental memo obtained under the federal access-to-information legislation. The memo, written in February, 1998, by Health Canada senior official Joel Weiner, informs fellow bureaucrats that officials in Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's office were not sure if Health Canada had asked the right questions about the safety of the controversial hormone known as recombinant bovine somatotropin, or rBST.
Scientist calls for immediate moratorium on use of hormones
Dr. Samuel Epstein, an internationally recognized authority on the effects of hormones to promote cattle growth, is calling for an immediate moratorium on such use. "There's very good experimental evidence relating estrogen (and other hormones) to reproductive cancers," Epstein, a professor from the school of public health at the University of Illinois, told a public forum on the safety of the Canadian food industry. "We have information going back for decades on that." Added to feed or injected into cattle, natural sex hormones - including estradiol, progesterone and testosterone - help cattle grow larger. Epstein said that he and other scientists have enough evidence to believe that eating meat with high hormone residues "constitutes a major risk for reproductive cancers, for breast cancer, prostate cancer and testes cancer." In addition to the moratorium, Epstein called for a full public inquiry on the policies and conduct of Health Canada on natural sex hormones used in cattle for anything except therapeutic use.
U.S. cattle import ban about trade, says group
The Canadian Cattlemen's Association says Europe's ban of North American cattle imports has nothing to do with health and everything to do with trade. Association president Ben Thorlakson says the ban is a protectionist move that has no basis in science. Europe doesn't allow imports of beef from North America because it comes from cattle which have been fed growth hormones. The World Trade Organization has ruled Europe must open its borders to North American beef by May 13 because scientific studies show there is no difference between beef produced with growth hormones and that produced without them.
The following was released today by Samuel S. Epstein, M.D., Professor of Environmental Medicine, University of Illinois School of Public Health. A February 1999 Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA), report which has just become available, claims that the natural sex hormones, estradiol, progesterone and testosterone, can be safely used for growth promotion of cattle in feed lots without risks to consumers, particularly of breast and other reproductive cancers. The report established "Acceptable Daily Intakes" (ADI's) or safe threshold tolerances for these natural hormones on the basis of "hormone-dependent parameters," which were accepted as the determinants of carcinogenicity. This novel proposal is scientifically invalid. It is also in diametric opposition to 1997 World Trade Organization (WTO) testimony opposing the EU ban on hormonal meat by US and Canadian experts, some of whom also authored the 1999 report.
Federal scientist says her concerns about cattle hormone were ignored
A Health Department scientist says her bosses refused to heed her concerns about the human-health effects of a hormone used to promote growth in cattle. Margaret Haydon made the allegations Monday before the Senate agriculture committee, which called her to testify even though she is under a Health Department gag order.
Food safety a sizzling issue for House
The new session of Parliament that begins Oct. 12 will be a stage for what could be an emotional debate about Canadian food safety and the role of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. The issue of who is responsible for inspecting and testing genetically modified foods will play a role in the debate, since critics say the CFIA is ill-equipped for the job. Agriculture minister Lyle Vanclief last week confirmed that he plans to reintroduce the Canada Food Safety and Inspection Act to Parliament when it reconvenes. The first version of the bill died when the last session of Parliament ended in September.
The president of the Canadian Wheat Board is calling for a moratorium on the introduction of transgenic crops until customers are more willing to accept them or they can be sifted out of the grain handling system. "In our view, no transgenic varieties should be registered for commercial production in Canada until either they have achieved full commercial acceptance in all of their potential markets or until we have cost-effective technologies to segregate by variety throughout the system," Greg Arason told senior grain industry executives in a closed meeting last week.
Consumers have a right to know
t's easy to understand how genetically-engineered crops have come to be known as "Frankenfoods" in Europe. The idea of transferring DNA from one species to another in a laboratory, then using the resulting seed to grow food, is enough to turn off even the most open-minded consumer.
Designer gene can be passed to future generations
A Canadian company is the first in the world to cross a huge barrier in genetic engineering -- one that could allow scientists to change the genes of one human and all his or her descendants.
Consumers have a right to know
t's easy to understand how genetically-engineered crops have come to be known as "Frankenfoods" in Europe. The idea of transferring DNA from one species to another in a laboratory, then using the resulting seed to grow food, is enough to turn off even the most open-minded consumer.
Pro Bio Genetic Farmer Alliance Refute Suzuki's Implication that They are Stupid and Liars
Stop selling genetically altered food, Suzuki urges
Activists plot how to put genetically modified food on political platter
Involve farmers, educate consumers on biotech
Farmers should be involved in decision making when genetically modified products are on the table, says the head of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture. However, when farmers cannot pay their bills, they wonder how they can be heard by the multinational companies that develop these products. "We are beginning to see signs of uneasiness from producers who are wondering what is happening to their potential market growth and their ability to make decisions," said Bob Friesen a recent Crop Protection Institute meeting in Calgary. "They are further concerned about who will own agricultural technology -- what country or what company."
Opposition to genetically modified foods is "hysteria," says Canada's new secretary of state for science, research and development.
Senate considers hearings on GMO issue
As the first of the supermarket protests against genetically modified foods hit the Toronto area Sept. 27, a senior member of the Senate agriculture committee mused about using the committee this winter as a forum for a debate on GM products.
Killer tomatoes ... Not! The Ottawa Citizen
There's nothing simple about the environment or technology. Trite as that may sound, it bears repeating because it gives us a handy rule of thumb: If a position on a major environmental or technological issue can be summarized in one sentence, it's probably wrong. Which brings us to genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
The food debate: Is it good or 'Frankenfood'?
Critics cook up campaign against genetically altered food
Ontario farmers decry GMO protest stunt
The planned protest against genetically engineered foods tomorrow in Toronto is nothing more than a publicity stunt, based on soundbites rather than sound science, according to a major Ontario farm environmental coalition group.AGCare is a coalition of 16 farm groups representing Ontario's 45,000 field and horticultural crop growers on crop biotechnology, crop protection, and related environmental issues.
The Global Industry Coalition: Industry Seeks a Successful Biosafety Protocol
Saskatchewan farmer files countersuit against Monsanto
A Saskatchewan farmer has taken on biochemical giant Monsanto Co. in what's become a David and Goliath battle over the proliferation of genetically modified seeds in the booming canola industry.
Advocacy groups launch campaign against biotech foods
Alta Genetics gains fame in China
As a souvenir of his trip to Calgary Friday, Chinese Agriculture Minister Chen Yaobang was eyeing something in leather -- a cow named Lilly. Lilly, winner of the 1998 world champion Holstein award, was the star attraction as several Chinese agriculture officials toured the Bearspaw facilities of Alta Genetics Inc. In the past decade, the Calgary-area cattle breeding company, which specializes in bull semen and in-vitro fertilization, has become a world leader in bovine genetics. Chinese officials, who had already visited Alta Genetics once this year during Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji's April visit, have taken notice. Negotiations are under way for Alta Genetics to send 6,000 bovine embryos to populate China's beef and dairy herds.
Grocers look for guidance on biotech food labels
A lobby group for Canadian grocery stores wants to study ways of introducing labelling for biotech foods. Right now there's no law that forces stores to provide labels that indicate food products contain genetically modified vegetables. But there's mounting evidence that Canadians want the labels. Two weeks ago the environmental group Sierra Club of Canada circulated petitions, demanding stores label their genetically modified products. In response the Canadian Council of Grocery Store Distributors says its members are unsure of what information people want to see on those labels, so it's advocating a study into the matter.
Nutrition labelling needs improvement
The Food and Consumer Products Manufacturers of Canada (FCPMC) fully supports efforts to improve current nutrition labelling in Canada. Responding to Health Canada's Nutrition Labelling consultation, FCPMC is calling for simple, consistent, easy-to-read labelling for all Canadians. ``In addition to nutrition labels, the food industry would also like to look at the use of new technology like smart chips and electronic scanners to expand consumers' ability to access more nutrition information in stores,'' says Laurie Curry, Vice President Public Policy and Scientific Affairs, and a registered dietitian.
"From Naked Ape to Superspecies," with David Suzuki
The human species has undergone fundamental changes that have transformed us into a new kind of force. David Suzuki says we have become a "super-species." We are so surrounded by the sophisticated technologies we have created, that we sometimes forget we are still biological beings, deeply embedded in and completely dependent upon the natural world for our survival. Without clean air, water, soil and sunlight, and a variety of life-forms to cleanse and renew these basic resources, we will die. In "From Naked Ape to Superspecies," David Suzuki looks at where we are at this unprecedented period in human history. This website is a companion to the 8 part series airing on CBC Radio One between April 11 and May 30, 1999. Along with details about the programs, we will provide you with information on how to order your own copies of the series on tape. We'll also suggest links to other sites of interest, as well as other resources where you can get more information on the topics we've covered.
CBC Radio News and Current Affairs explores the biotechnology debate. As the world consumes more genetically-modified foods, people are beginning to question the safety of a science that can create products through selective breeding.
RAFI: Rural Advancement Foundation International
RAFI, the Rural Advancement Foundation International, is an international civil society organization headquartered in Canada. RAFI is dedicated to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, and to the socially responsible development of technologies useful to rural societies. RAFI is concerned about the loss of agricultural biodiversity, and the impact of intellectual property on farmers and food security.
CBC Special Feature on Bovine Growth Hormone (with links)
Bovine growth hormone, or Bovine Somatotropin is a naturally-occurring protein in cattle. Recombinant Bovine Somatotropin (rbST) is a veterinary drug, produced through biotechnology, which is not approved for use in Canada and has been under review by Health Canada for the past nine years
USE AT OWN RISK How safe our drugs and foods?
A This Morning series on the Health Protection Branch
NATONAL FARMERS UNION (NFU)LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN FOR SAFE FOOD
Health Department can't handle tide of genetically engineered products: official
The Health Department doesn't have the capacity to adequately assess the growing number of genetically engineered foods being developed by industry, says deputy minister David Dodge. "It is of extraordinary concern," Dodge told the Senate agriculture committee Thursday.
Scientists tell MPs cloning doesn't get a fair hearing
he bio-technology industry told a parliamentary committee yesterday it is suffering under an unfair "Dr. Frankenstein" image for genetically altering food and favouring cloning.
Legislation to regulate genetic research
Legislation to be introduced by the federal government this fall will include provisions for a body to regulate genetic research and reproductive technologies, the Ottawa Citizen reported Tuesday. It will also set standards for such things as the storage and distribution of human sperm and eggs, the newspaper said. The regulatory body will be granted broad powers of enforcement if the legislation is adopted. It would license clinics that offer fertility treatments and conduct embryo research and have the power to revoke those licences if the clinics run afoul of the rules. The legislation would ban human cloning, the creation of human-animal hybrids, paying surrogate mothers to bear children and removing sperm or eggs from human corpses.
Genetically altered seeds may contaminate others, says farm group
The National Farmers Union is concerned drifting pollen and wind-blown seed from genetically-engineered crops will contaminate non-engineered crops. Spokesman Stewart Wells says it could cost organic producers and other farmers millions of dollars. The group says makers of genetically-modified organisms should pay compensation for genetic pollution. Wells says it may soon become impossible to certify canola because no one will be able to guarantee its does not contain genetically-engineered seeds. Stewart says Canadian farmers have already lost markets in Europe for canola because they can't guarantee their crop is free of genetic pollution.
Genetically engineered food: Campus cafeterias targetted
Young New Democrats launch their ``Cafeteria Campaign'' to give students the option to choose food that is not genetically engineered. Canada's university and college cafeterias will either be certified Free of genetically engineered food or asked to post Warnings.
Canada to seek international deal on biotech food labels
Canada has agreed to lead an international effort to reach consensus on what labelling should be required for genetically modified foods. Canadian officials agreed to chair a working group on the issue after it became apparent this week there was no hope of consensus at the regular meeting of Codex Alimentarius, a UN agency that sets food standards. The main issue is whether mandatory labelling should be required for foods produced through biotechnology.
Shoppers suspicious of biotech foods: study
TOM JOAD IN GRAPES OF WRATH "I've been wonderin' if all our folks got together and yelled." Welcome to the Dirty Nineties. The Premier of Saskatchewan, Roy Romanow, says the farm crisis is as deep today as it was in the worst of the Great Depression. The Premier of Manitoba, Gary Doer, says farm income in his province has fallen to Second World War levels. Unfortunately, the cost of living -- or, for that matter, the cost of governing -- has not dropped along with it.
A delegation of farmers headed by two western premiers told the federal government it needs $2.8 billion in farm aid to prevent hundreds of family farms from going belly up.
Romanow, Doer seeking $1.3-billion for farmers
The premiers of Saskatchewan and Manitoba are going to Ottawa next week to plead for $1.3-billion to help out their hard-hit farmers. The two NDP premiers, Saskatchewan's Roy Romanow and Manitoba's Gary Doer, say many of the farmers in their provinces are desperate and need more financial help.
Why there's no consensus on Kroeger: NFU
Kroeger report gets little praise from industry
Arthur Kroeger doesn't have much sympathy for those who don't like his report on reforming the grain handling and transportation system. His contentious recommendations to the federal government have been met with a near-unanimous chorus of criticism and complaint from grain industry interest groups.
Terminator gene halt mildly mollifies critics
Monsanto's decision to back away from the terminator gene technology drew a lukewarm response from the National Farmers Union last week.
Activist remembered for promoting united voice
After dealing with the hardship of the Depression, Alfred Gleave wanted Canadian farmers to have a strong, united voice. He dedicated most of his life to that cause. Gleave, who died Aug. 20 at the age of 89, became involved with farm organizations and politics in 1932, and always made his voice heard as he pressed for changes that would improve the quality of life for farmers across the country.Gleave held a variety of positions in farm organizations throughout his life. He was involved in the Saskatchewan Farmers Union, serving as vice-president from 1955-57 and president from 1957-62. He was a member of the advisory committees of the Canadian Wheat Board and the Farm Credit Corporation. He was also a director of Sask Power and Canadian Co-operative Implements Ltd., and was a delegate to the International Wheat Agreement negotiations in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1959 and 1962. It was there that he met his wife Mary. In 1961, Gleave became the president of the National Farmers Union.
Family counts its blessings as farm life fades into past
The Schopmans lost their South Wind farm nine years ago, when the bank foreclosed on their livelihood after soaring interest rates and low commodity prices left them $150,000 in debt.
UGG Looks to Federal Government to Acknowledge Responsibility for Farm Income Problems
Strapped Alberta farmers to get $100-million in aid
Farmers taking plea for aid to prime minister Income at record low
Almost-bankrupt farmers from Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario have travelled to Ottawa to meet with Jean Chretien, the Prime Minister. About 60 farmers have travelled by air and bus from as far away as Prince Albert, Sask., for meetings with Mr. Chretien, Paul Martin, the Finance Minister, and Lyle Vanclief, the federal Agriculture Minister.
Canadian Farmers Harvest To Fight Famine
Many of Canada's farmers now toiling toward the end of a tough harvest season somehow have found time to set aside some of their crops, or grow something extra, to feed the hungry in nations facing food shortages or famine. ``I believe in the sharing of this abundance,'' Otto Fielman, a farmer in Manitoba province, told Reuters. He is one of many Canadian grain producers who ignored bad weather and the worst commodity prices in years to participate in a complex grain collection effort administered by the Canadian Foodgrains Bank (CFB) since 1983.
Chinese Step Up Buying Of Canadian Canola-Trade
Canada's grain transport system in for a shakeup
Politicians, farm groups to hold strategy session
Saskatchewan's agriculture minister is urging opposition politicians and farm lobbyists to forget their differences when they attend a joint strategy meeting Friday. The advocates, the politicians and the minister will try to come up with a united front on a new farm aid plan they want the federal government to fund.
Kroeger's recommendations satisfy no one
The long-awaited report grain transportation report by Arthur Kroeger has called for continued deregulation of the grain handling and transportation system, including an effective end to the Canadian Wheat Board's role in transportation. Kroeger was appointed earlier this year to lead industry consultation on how to implement the recommendations of an earlier report by Justice Willard Estey. In his Oct. 5 report to transport minister David Collenette, Kroeger said there was no industry agreement on the major issues like a cap on railway revenues from hauling grain, increased rail competition and the role of the CWB.
The Magazine Broken Harvest: A Family Story Sept. 29, 1999. Indepth The Battle of Farming Mar. 4, 1999 Links Mar. 9, 1999 Diary A Saskatchewan woman shares her experiences of life on a farm Peter Mansbridge interviews Jocelyn Hainsworth One on One. Reports Mud is the Reality: a report from a rally in Melita, Man. Essays Blue Cloud and Footsteps Feb 17, 1999 Grim Truth Feb 13, 1999 Whiteout Feb 11, 1999 "Farming is Everything" Feb 10, 1999 Welcome Home Feb 9, 1999 Multimedia Martin speaks with Andy Barrie of CBC Toronto's Metro Morning [Real Audio]
Many farmers ready to throw in the towel
Farmers will consider a mass exodus from the land this year unless they see better prices or policies. A new Angus Reid Group survey shows 46 percent of prairie farmers will seriously consider getting out of farming, or will have left it altogether, if their financial situation continues without higher prices or more government support. The smaller the farm, the more vulnerable the farmer feels, the August poll revealed.
Rural day care relies on funding
When government grant money vanishes, so usually does the rural day-care centre. It has happened most recently in British Columbia's Okanagan Valley, but prairie experiments in the past decade have also failed, as has the Saskatchewan-led National Coalition For Rural Child Care, suspended since funding was cut in March 1996. Carol Gott, from the rural Ontario county of Grey, says every provincial and federal government has programs for children. By lobbying as a community, farmers can make sure that money is used for child care, she said.
Flooded farmers deserve Chretien's attention: NDP
Prime Minister Jean Chretien owes a personal visit and a lot more money to flooded farmers in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, says New Democrat leader Alexa McDonough. "They're angry, they're bitter and they deserve to have their country and prime minister respond to their plight," she told a news conference Monday after a two-day tour of washed-out farmlands. "I saw a lot of fear, frustration and fatigue." Farmers already strained by low commodity prices could only watch in recent weeks as merciless spring rains swamped their fields. Flooding has kept them from seeding at least 800,000 hectares of land in southeastern Saskatchewan and across the Manitoba border. Estimated losses for Manitoba farmers alone are expected to top $240 million. Twenty-eight of 35 affected municipalities have declared their areas disaster zones, McDonough said.
Farm protest blocks Saskatchewan legislature
Tractors, combines, bulldozers and grain trucks were lined up in protest in front of the Saskatchewan legislature in Regina on Tuesday. Between 200-300 farmers were protesting to bring attention to what they describe as a dying industry. The farmers are upset with federal and provincial government farm aid packages.
Richardson family makes bid for Canbra Deal would add food processing to its operations
Pocklington's Canbra Foods sold off
Another piece of Peter Pocklington's old business empire ended up in new hands today. Canbra Foods, a margarine and food oils maker, is being purchased by a private company, James Richardson International for $64 million. The deal has the support of the receiver-manager in charge of Canbra's business affairs. Pocklington used to own the Edmonton Oilers hockey team.
Ottawa announces more farm aid, but farmers want more
Farm troubles take toll on businesses
Saskatchewan Wheat Pool has High Expectations for Transportation Reform
Saskatchewan Wheat Pool says the priority in Western grain transportation reform must be to develop a lower-cost more efficient system to benefit all stakeholders, beginning with the primary producer. In responding to today's announcement of the steering committee that will prepare plans for implementing transportation reform, Pool President Leroy Larsen said the group will face many challenges in the coming months. "We fully expect the steering committee to design an efficient system that reduces costs for farmers, grain companies and other players in the industry. It must also enable companies like the Pool, who has already made significant investments in our grain handling system, to more effectively meet the new challenges of a highly competitive agricultural environment.
Kroeger assigned to turn Estey's ideas into reality
Transport Minister David Collenette announced last week that the federal government wants to bring in legislation to create a more commercial, reliable system, as described in the report of retired justice Willard Estey. But first, he has named another "eminent person" to determine how to turn Estey's ideas into reality. Also see: • No railway costing review: Collenette • Wheat board won't yield transportation role quietly • Feds won't wait forever for consensus: Minister • Farmer hopes reforms work this time around • Highlights of the Estey Report's recommendations
Romanow wants new farm aid plan
Saskatchewan Premier Roy Romanow wants the federal government to overhaul its much-maligned farm aid program. Romanow said the Agriculture Income Disaster Assistance scheme has failed Prairie farmers, many of whom are facing their worst year since the Depression. "They need to revisit this plan immediately and try to devise a mechanism whereby there is more cash more immediately in the hands of farmers," he said Tuesday.
Farmers' group wants better aid package
The Nova Scotia Federation of Agriculture is withdrawing its support for a farm-aid deal signed by the province's Liberal government this week. The group is urging the province to negotiate a better package with Ottawa. Laurence Nason, the federation's executive director, said his group supported the deal only because provincial officials assured farmers the federal government was handing over $7.5 million. Nova Scotia's deputy minister of agriculture later admitted the province exaggerated the announcement.
Critics demand clarification on farm aid deal
Nova Scotia's agriculture minister has some explaining to do. The province's largest farm organization withdrew its support Friday for the government's decision to join a national farm aid program amid word the package was oversold. "There was obviously some misunderstanding somewhere," said Laurence Nason of the Nova Scotia Federation of Agriculture, who delivered the message to senior government officials. "The province has signed the same type of agreement that they refused to sign and we asked them not to sign in February."
Data from the 1996 census shows that the flight from the farm has slowed, StatsCan said Monday, although only three per cent of Canadians were farmers in that year. Between 1986 and 1991, the farm population declined 5.6 per cent. Between 1991 and 1996, though, it dropped only 1.7 per cent. The number of farms, too, has dropped dramatically. In 1941, there were 732,800 farms in Canada. By 1996, that had fallen to 276,500. Farming remained an uncertain life, the statistics agency said. Wages and salaries were the biggest source of income for farm families, with net agriculture income a distant second. In 1995, 55 cents of every dollar of income for farm families came from wages. Only 19 cents was net farm income.
Winnipeg -- An overwhelming majority of agri-businesses across the Prairies believe the economic downturn in the agriculture industry last year had a negative impact on their operations, according to survey results released today by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB).
Process to Facilitate Reform of Grain Handling and Transportation System under Way
The facilitator for the reform of the grain
handling and transportation system, Arthur Kroeger, today released details
concerning the establishment of a steering committee and three working groups
as part of the facilitation process which he has undertaken.
Mr. Kroeger was appointed last month by Transport Minister David
Collenette to work with industry stakeholders and prepare recommendations by
Sept. 30, 1999, on the changes necessary to implement a reform package by crop
year 2000-2001. This reform will be based on the framework outlined by
Justice Willard Estey's report for a more commercially oriented system.
Animal rights activists target fast-food giant
- Activists dressed like farm animals and waving placards demonstrated outside a downtown McDonald's restaurant on Saturday, accusing the fast-food giant of buying products from breeders who raise and kill animals cruelly. "We're going to protest at as many McDonald's as we can as long as this keeps happening," said Suzanne Lahaie, spokeswoman for Freedom for Animals, a local group affiliated with the international People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
Food processing sector seeks skilled workers
Canada's agricultural schools are recruiting new students in an effort to supply a growing food industry with trained, skilled workers. Robert McLaughlin, dean of the Ontario Agricultural College says the food processing industry has tripled in size within the past decade. A growth which means graduates of agricultural programs like those offered at the college are a hot commodity.
Calgary -- If you're looking for examples of how the Asian market meltdown can affect even companies that don't have a big export business, look no further than XL Foods of Calgary. A small beef producer that has focused on trying to create and market an Alberta brand for meat, XL Foods has had its profit margins hammered by larger competitors flooding the market.The main problem in the meat business, industry analysts agree, is simple: "Too much protein," as Mr. Patillo puts it. Massive producers such as Minnesota-based Cargill and Nebraska-based IBP have watched their Asian business fall off a cliff in the past year, and so they have dumped a lot of their meat in the North American market, driving down prices.
Police round up pigs on highway
Riot squad police officers joined forces with pig herders Tuesday to end a pork producers' protest that had blocked part of a major highway for five days. The club-carrying cops and a handful of stick-wielding herders cleared out about 200 pigs that were hogging a kilometre-long section of the two eastbound lanes of Highway 20 midway between Montreal and Quebec City. Police had warned the farmers early Tuesday they would move them and their livestock off the highway if they didn't leave.
Politics name of the game in border battle on hogs, cattle
Manitoba hog producer Bill Vaags is feeling harassed: He and his colleagues are having trouble exporting their livestock to the United States, and it's not the first time. For the past week, pork and cattle producers have been holding back livestock shipments to the northern United States because every truck they send over the border can be stopped and checked, costing them time and trouble. State police in North Dakota, Minnesota, Idaho and Montana have geared up health and safety inspections of Canadian shipments of livestock and grain. Nebraska, too, is grumbling about Canadian agricultural products. And in South Dakota, Canadian trucks are being sent home.
Australians call for temporary tariff on pork imports
Australian pork producers called Wednesday for a four-year temporary tariff on pork imports to give the industry time to recover from a price slump and the effect of cheaper Canadian imports.
(And the industry in Canada insists it needs more wage concessions from its workers?! See Fletchers Strike and Maple Leaf Strike
Intercontinental Packers employees ratify new contract
SASKATOON (CP) - Workers at Intercontinental Packers voted Friday night to ratify a proposed collective agreement that allows the company to introduce a new, lower tier of wages for future employees. The new contract, which keeps other employees' wages at their current levels, will expire in March 2003 rather than in January 2000, said Intercon owner Fred Mitchell. Current workers start at $8 per hour and progress over three years to a base salary of about $15.60 per hour. Future employees will progress to $10 per hour. Seventy-seven per cent of the 643 workers who voted agreed to the proposal, said Maurice Werezak, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 248P, which represents the workers. FURTHER CONCESSION BARGAINING SELLOUT BY UFCW
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Biotechnology and Agriculture a Special Report From Western Producer
In the first of two reports on the potential and limits of science, special reports editor Barry Wilson offers a glimpse at some of the products in the research pipeline and the science and politics which help set research priorities.
The uncharted waters of supply-managed exporting
Western Producer Special Report: Supply managed sectors, organized decades ago to serve the domestic market in defiance of world prices and supplies, have decided to sail into the largely uncharted waters of export markets. The new world trade agreement signed in 1995 changed Canada's ability to protect the supply managed industry and opened the door to exports. It is a controversial development requiring a sea change in the supply management mindset. It means deliberately producing export product to sell at prices lower than traditional cost-of-production. While some are enthusiastic, other farmers want no part of it. They fear it could give ammunition to critics who think regulated domestic prices are too high.
Made here, owned there: Canada's malting barley industry July 2
Western Producer Special report
Restructuring and globalization haven't passed the Canadian malt barley industry by. Control of the industry has changed from Canadian hands to foreign ones, and where once there were hundreds of players, there's now just a few big ones. What does this mean to farmers and workers?
Board says regulation needed for grain handling
Cut the Canadian Wheat Board out of grain transportation and farmers will pay more and receive less for their crops, the board says in its second submission to a judicial review. Canadian Pacific Railway has suggested the grain handling system would function smoothly if the wheat board were on the sidelines, buying grain for export at port positions. It wants a market-driven system it says would be more efficient.
Low wheat prices drive trade dispute
Low world wheat prices that are helping to fuel an angry border dispute between Canada and the United States dominated a meeting of farm leaders Tuesday at the offices of the Canadian Wheat Board. "The marketplace is everywhere dealing a very bad hand to producers," said Nettie Wiebe, president of the National Farmers Union.
Siding off limits; farmers cry foul July 9
For farmers near Togo, Sask., the tearing up of a rail siding is yet another example of how their interests take a back seat to the corporate agenda of the railways and grain handling companies.
Canada to swallow biotech trade pill July 9
Farmers Feel Government Has Sold Them Out Over NAFTA/WTO Accords July 13
Grain industry future at stake July 14
Directors approve Man./Alta. pool merger July 16
NFU opposes Ottawa's reduction to input price statistics July 16
Seed companies getting serious about protecting product July 16
American grain trucks soon at an elevator near you July 16
Canada questions US motive in wheat aid July 20
Wheat board watches US$250M humanitarian plan with interestJuly 21
Canada accused of 'laundering beef'July 23
The U.S. beef industry is up in arms, claiming Canadian beef producers are passing off Canadian meat as U.S. product.
Vanclief attacks U.S. over meat labelling proposals July 24
Competition bureau closes book on lysine conspiracy: Archer Daniels Midland(ADM) July 24
INTERVIEW-Canada's UGG grain firm eyes more growth
(UGG is one of Canadas largest Grain companies and is 43% owned by Archer Daniel Midlands see Ottawa doesn't think through trade policies: CFA
As it prepares a bargaining strategy for the next round of world trade negotiations, the federal government sometimes appears more interested in endorsing the theory of free trade than in analyzing its implications back home, says a farm leader. Bob Friesen, a Manitoba poultry farmer and vice-president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, said last week the Liberal government sometimes fancies itself in a foot race of free traders, trying to impress other countries. Archer Daniels Midland Trial
National Farmers Union not optimistic about agricultural trade goals
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