History would suggest that Canadian elections are won and lost in Quebec and Ontario. Although that may be true, recently we've seen a shift across the country. As the population growth shifts west and the balance of power moves from downtown to the suburbs, how will Canada's political climate shift? How will agriculture, natural resources,... Read More
Category: Agriculture Policy
Bill 156, the Security from Trespass and Protecting Food Safety Act, 2020, has received Royal Assent following a vote of 68 for, 22 against in the Ontario legislature. The new law features heavier fines for trespassing on farms, including: Escalating fines of up to $15,000 for a first offence and $25,000 for subsequent offences, compared... Read More
For perhaps the first time in several generations, Canadians have been faced with real uncertainty in their food system. The fallout of the COVID-19 economic shutdown and panic buying led to shuttered processors, dumped milk, and empty grocery store shelves. Most consumers wouldn't normally think about or talk about food security or agriculture on a... Read More
U.S. dairy groups are accusing Canada of making it difficult for U.S. dairy exporters to take advantage of the full market access negotiated in the new North American trade deal, which takes effect on July 1. The Canadian government published the fine print on how the allocation of its tariff-rate quotas (TRQs) will work under... Read More
While the U.S. and Canada are neighbours and trading partners, and share a similar agriculture industry, there are key differences between the two countries. While integrated, Canadian agriculture and U.S. agriculture food safety, product registration, support programs and more are each unique and a reflection of the societies as a whole. As such, Pierre Petelle,... Read More
An answer to a follow up question on a conference call by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada minister Marie-Claude Bibeau struck a nerve last week. Bibeau said that the carbon tax on fuel used for grain drying wasn't a significant enough percentage of operating costs to qualify for an exemption to the "price of pollution." In... Read More
The agriculture sector could be a major player to lead the Canadian economic recovery from COVID-19 shutdowns. Much of the opportunity is tied to food security and our value-added processing services. The University of Calgary's Simpson Centre for Agricultural and Food Innovation and Public Education recently released a report summarizing food security during the shutdowns... Read More
While Canadian farmers maintain access to over-the-top use of dicamba herbicides in herbicide-tolerant crops, American farmers are dealing with significant uncertainty regarding access to the product not just this season, but for next year and years to come. The 9th Circuit Court in the U.S. vacated dicamba's over-the-top registration June 3rd, 2020, ruling that the... Read More
Part of the RealAgriculture gang is here in this Wednesday episode of RealAg LIVE! Host Shaun Haney is joined by Ontario field editor Lyndsey Smith, and Manitoba field editor Kelvin Heppner, to discuss carbon tax, (crappy) rural internet, and more. You'll have to excuse some of our technical difficulties, but listen on and send us... Read More
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) has crunched the numbers on the carbon tax applied to grain drying bills and says it's simply not a significant enough amount of overall costs to be exempt from the tax. Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau held a Zoom conference call to announce a second intake for the Local Food Infrastructure Fund,... Read More