Agriculture minister most lobbied in February as trade, grain shipments topped industry interests
Lobbyists targeted Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay three times as often as his nearest cabinet colleague in February, as industry groups pushed trade interests and raised the alarm about a “crisis” in grain shipments, according to the latest lobby filings. Agriculture was the third-most popular subject lobbyists spoke to office holders about last month, with 373 mentions. Despite […]
Time for a global Canadian food policy
The government is soon to release a new food policy for Canada. With six departments actively engaged, and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada at the helm, the national food policy has occasioned an ambitious and often contentious—but widely welcomed—debate. The engagement of so many departments, not least Health Canada, speaks to the growing understanding in policy […]
Free my grapes: Dismantling Canada’s interprovincial barriers to trade
In June 2016, the Senate of Canada released a report entitled “Tear Down These Walls: Dismantling Canada’s Internal Trade Barriers,” which called upon federal and provincial/territorial governments to take priority action on removing internal barriers to trade. The Senate views this call to action as an opportunity to lay the groundwork for growth and prosperity […]
How Canada and the IICA are trying to ease climate change’s harm to family farms in the Americas
My recent visit to Ottawa resulted in the strengthening of cooperation efforts to benefit vulnerable areas in the Americas. The agency I lead, the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), together with several prestigious and active organizations based in Canada, such as the International Development Research Centre and the International Institute for Sustainable Development, […]
Groups on all sides of the food policy debate urge feds to think fresh on governance
Players from across the food and nutrition landscape in Canada, including industry and health advocates, are calling for better engagement from Ottawa in drafting a cohesive national food policy. An ad-hoc group representing 53 different organizations is pressuring the federal government to create an arms-length “national food policy advisory council” that would feature stakeholders from all sides […]
‘It’s like a series of dominoes’: NDP, Conservatives push for action to clear grain shipment backlog
Opposition MPs are growing increasingly frustrated with the Liberals’ lack of concrete action on the grain shipment backlog, but they also say the problem will be solved once Bill C-49, the Transportation Modernization Act—currently in the Senate—receives royal assent. Conservative MP John Barlow (Foothills, Alta.), his party’s associate agriculture critic, is calling on the government […]
Government trade deals leave Canadian farmers feeling put out to pasture
The supply management sector of Canadian agriculture has been thriving vibrantly for decades, without reliance on the level of subsidies that its U.S. and European Union counterparts depend on for success. However, the Government of Canada, despite its repeated assurances of support, is set to deliver “death by a thousand cuts” to supply-managed sectors through […]
Canadian-made, science-based innovation in sustainable agriculture
From a distance, it is difficult to see a connection between a young family sitting at their dinner table in Vancouver and a national network that includes a farmer in Prince Edward Island, an agri-retail store in Saskatchewan, and a researcher in Halifax. Upon closer inspection, however, Canadians from all backgrounds and all regions are […]
‘Trade is vital for our agriculture sector,’ says MacAulay as Canada inks CPTPP
To borrow a sports analogy, Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay has been playing offence and defence when it comes to seeking international markets for Canadian agricultural products for the past year and a half. For example, Mr. MacAulay (Cardigan, P.E.I.) visited China last year in hopes of opening new markets for Canadian agricultural products. Demand for […]
Under the Liberals, agriculture is an afterthought
By not taking our trade partnerships seriously and ignoring the relationship between international trade and Canadian agriculture is a foolhardy position by the current Liberal government. Canada is the fifth largest net agri-food exporter in the world and it is an integral pillar on our economy especially in rural communities. The need to secure vital […]
