The Liberal party's national policy convention is this week, and as part of the organization's annual meeting, resolutions can be brought forward from electoral districts across the country. Kody Blois, member of parliament for Kings-Hants, acts as chair of the Rural Liberal Caucus; and as someone from Atlantic Canada's agricultural heartland, understands the region and... Read More
Category: Ag Policy
When we talk about trade, often times we talk about market access, tariff rate quotes, and other technical aspects. Climate change and carbon programing isn't necessarily something that always comes to mind. Ted Bilyea of the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute (CAPI), says there are currently big unknowns surrounding trade and climate change; particularly, how we... Read More
Increased funding for business risk management programs is the main driver of a $23.1 million increase for agriculture in Saskatchewan's proposed budget. Deputy Premier and Finance Minister Donna Harpauer tabled the province's 2021-22 budget on Tuesday, featuring a deficit of $2.6 billion and a plan to return to balanced books in 2026-27. The budget includes... Read More
Health Canada just published final decisions for its special reviews of clothianidin and thiamethoxam last Wednesday. The organization has also opened up a 60-day consultation period on how plant breeding is done in Canada. Today's guest has a lot on their plate to discuss regarding these recent events, and how agricultural science is viewed by... Read More
With a potential federal election coming our way, politics are on the minds of many. This episode of RealAg LIVE! features Meagan Murdoch of National Public Relations, on some of Canada's key political conversations in 2021. Host Shaun Haney and Murdoch talk about partisanship, political party popularity (say that ten times fast), the carbon tax,... Read More
The reference margin limit (RML) of AgriStability was a feature put in place back in 2013 with Growing Forward 2, and since then has been a confusing and misunderstood feature of the program. The recent agreement to business risk management program reform has caused quite a stir, but what does the RML removal mean for... Read More
Health Canada has opened consultations on how Canada regulates plants with novel traits, including those produced through gene editing technology, such as CRISPR-Cas9. The 60-day consultation kicked off March 25th, and grain industry leaders are pushing for all those in the value chain to weigh in on the importance of the modernization of the regulations.... Read More
The federal government has the right to impose a national price on pollution, says the Supreme Court of Canada. That means the government can set the standard by which the provinces deliver carbon pricing. Several provinces and producer groups disagreed with the carbon pricing scheme — and still do, in principle — but with this... Read More
The most recent meeting of the Federal-Provincial-Territorial (FPT) ag leaders came to a conclusion Thursday without a consensus on Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) Marie-Claude Bibeau's proposed AgriStability changes. Devin Dreeshen, Minister of Alberta Agriculture and Forestry, says that the conclusion of the FPT meetings was a good deal for farmers, but the... Read More
The meeting of the Federal-Provincial-Territorial ag leaders ended without a full agreement on what Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Marie-Claude Bibeau proposed back in November, 2020. At that time, Bibeau offered to remove the reference margin limit and increase the coverage level from 70 per cent to 80 per cent. The cost structure of... Read More