Last week, the Alberta government introduced Bill 17, the Fair and Family-Friendly Workplaces Act, which updates Alberta’s Labour Code and Employment Standards Code. Since the bill covers all workers in Alberta, it requires some further digging to parse out what applies to agriculture and farms. On Friday, Shaun Haney spoke with Oneil Carlier, Minister of... Read More
Category: Canadian Agricultural Policy
The Alberta government has introduced legislation to overhaul workplace rules across the province, including expanding labour relations rights and employment standards rules to non-family farm workers. Bill 17, named the Fair and Family-friendly Workplaces Act, received its first reading on Wednesday. If passed, most of it would take effect on January 1, 2018. While many... Read More
"It's not perfect, but it is better than we expected." The new rail legislation introduced by the federal government checks off most of the boxes on the list for grain shippers, says Wade Sobkowich, who represents major grain companies as executive director of the Western Grain Elevator Association. Bill C-49 would give shippers the right... Read More
The federal government is extending the comment period for its proposal to potentially eliminate the deferred cash ticket option for grain sales. The department of finance, on Tuesday, announced the consultation period that was originally scheduled to end May 24th will remain open beyond seeding season, until July 24. When delivering a listed grain (such... Read More
Farm and grain industry groups are optimistic new freight rail legislation proposed by the federal government will shift the balance of power in the market toward shippers. Some are even saying the bill introduced by Transport Minister Marc Garneau goes further than they expected. If passed, Bill C-49 would give shippers the right to charge... Read More
Starting Wednesday, Ontario ag leaders are headed south of the border to try to mend some of the trade fences that embattled U.S. President Donald Trump has crashed through. Led by Ontario's Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs minister Jeff Leal, the group – which includes representatives from the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, the... Read More
As the Trump administration formally starts the process of re-opening the North American Free Trade Agreement, agriculture industry groups continue to remind the governments involved about the benefits of the existing deal. It's a message that will be repeated often during the 90-day countdown to when renegotiations could begin, after U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer... Read More
A private member's bill that would have required a GM label to sell "any food that is genetically modified" was defeated in the House of Commons on Wednesday. Quebec NDP MP Pierre-Luc Dusseault introduced the draft legislation (read the Bill C-291 here), with NDP agriculture critic Ruth Ellen Brosseau speaking in favour of it. As... Read More
18 months after former Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced he was stepping down, the race to become the next leader of the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC), and the Official Opposition, is into its final days. Rona Ambrose gave her final major speech as interim leader this week, and CPC members from across the country... Read More
Farm and crop industry groups are welcoming the legislation introduced by Transport Minister Marc Garneau on Tuesday. Bill C-49 would, among other things, give shippers the ability to charge reciprocal penalties to railways for poor performance, clarify of the definition of "adequate and suitable" service, and increase requirements for railway reporting and contingency planning —... Read More