Canadian agriculture lobby groups keeping close eye on pair of private members’ bills
Canadian agriculture stakeholders are backing a pair of private members’ bills now before the House of Commons. The lobby groups and the MPs behind the bills are hoping that the looser government control in this minority Parliament will make it easier for the bills to pass before they are scuttled by the next election. One […]
Resilient farmers need a responsive government
At the start of the pandemic last March, the House Agriculture and Agri-Food Committee had just begun a study, based on a motion I moved during our first couple of meetings, looking into the suite of Business Risk Management Programs (BRMs) offered by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada to aid farmers and producers in times of […]
UN food summit an opportunity for Canadian agricultural leadership at home and abroad
In approximately six months, world leaders will meet at the United Nations Food Systems Summit. Whether the summit takes place on Zoom, or in person in New York, our representatives will share Canadian insights, help write policy, and set goals for the world’s food systems. As Canada crafts its position, what should we consider? What […]
Agriculture Policy Briefing
Alberta MP launches petition to ban use of the term ‘assault rifle’
Alberta Conservative MP David Yurdiga launched a petition March 3 seeking to stop use of the term “assault rifle” in the House of Commons when it comes to conversations about guns, calling it a scare tactic used to “demonize all guns,” reports Fort McMurray Today. The MP for Fort McMurray-Cold Lake, Alta., posted the petition to […]
Carr’s cabinet post praised by Prairie stakeholders, but experts and MP wary of road ahead
After recovering from a blood cancer diagnosis that forced him out of cabinet after the 2019 election, Jim Carr is back in the new post as the special representative to the Prairies. The title is old—Mr. Carr has held it since the election—but the spot in cabinet is new. Prior to re-joining cabinet, Mr. Carr was […]
Finance Committee chair Easter top non-cabinet-MP target for lobbyists in 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic kept MPs away from Ottawa for most of the year, but that didn’t stop lobbyists from meeting with MPs to try and influence both the government’s and the opposition’s agenda. Liberal MP and House Finance Committee chair Wayne Easter was lobbied 190 times in 2020, the most for an MP not serving […]
This is no time for half measures or vague aspirations
TORONTO—The most urgent task in Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s forthcoming budget will be to set the country on the path to sustained and sustainable economic growth. Going forward, we will need more and better innovation to achieve good jobs, improved competitiveness, and increased productivity. The budget has to make this its priority. In her fall […]
A historic event is unfolding in India as farmers protest en masse
The last decade has witnessed a rise of populist and strongmen leaders in many countries. The United States, India, Brazil, and the United Kingdom elected governments that rose through dog-whistle slogans against corrupt establishments. Often, these movements begin with nationalism as a tool to counter opposition and control the majority. This has turned out to […]
MPs press Bibeau to give trade compensation timeline, details to struggling farmers
Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau says there’s still a “few strings to tie,” and details could be months away, before the government can provide compensation timelines and totals for farmers experiencing market loss thanks to recent trade deals. Still, she told opposition MPs who pressed her on those details on Thursday that Canada wouldn’t give away […]
