Driving innovation—are we there yet?
‘There has been no effective mobilization of advice and counsel from outside the public service and responsibility for the expansion of various activities has been borne by individual ministers without any evidence of their relation to national policy as a whole.’ (J. Grant Glassco, Commissioner, 1963) This salient observation on the country’s national science activities […]
Toronto tech conference an American Idol for innovators
Some of the country’s most innovative companies in digital media and information and communication technology were featured at the annual Canadian Innovation Exchange (CIX) in Toronto last month. The Nov. 18 event, which was attended by top innovative tech experts in Canada, is described as “a technology party for the industry” by founding co-chair Rick […]
Agriculture
Feds’ AgriCompetitiveness program has non-profits chasing new revenue streams
Opposition critics say the feds should play a greater role in providing “unbiased” business management training to farmers following recent changes in federal funding for educational non-profits under the Growing Forward 2 policy framework’s AgriCompetitiveness program. Non-profit organizations that previously relied on public funding to provide business and farm management training to Canada’s agriculture […]
Canada phasing out animal growth drugs that cause superbugs, ‘loopholes’ persist
Health Canada is moving to phase out antibiotic drugs for growth promotion in livestock over the next three years due to concerns over antimicrobial resistance. A Health Canada notice to stakeholders on April 10 said it’s working on “removing growth promotion and production claims of medically-important antimicrobial drugs,” and has been promoting “judicious” use […]
Agri-industry still fighting U.S. Farm Bill, but others say best bets are lower dollar, new markets
While some experts consider it a lost cause, the Canadian agriculture industry is still pushing back against American country-of-origin labelling regulations after the U.S. Farm Bill passed into law in February. With a U.S. constitutional challenge back on the docket, originally launched by a group of American and Canadian meat industry associations, and ongoing […]
Trade delegation to Korea seeks to get Canadian meat back in the game
Canada’s agriculture minister is hailing a trade mission he led to South Korea and Japan as a success that secured commitments for increased agricultural sales to those countries. Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz (Battlefords-Lloydminster, Sask.) extolled the benefits of a three-day delegation that ended April 16, which included a cooking demonstration for a number of […]
Honeybee colonies disappearing at an alarming rate
The Standing Senate Agriculture and Forestry committee is presently pursuing two studies: one on research and innovation efforts in the agriculture and agri-food sector and the other on the importance of bees and bee health in the production of honey, food and seed in Canada. The members of the committee are committed to promoting […]
Climate change has a large impact on agriculture
There are many topical issues that impact Canadian farmers. The looming threat to supply management posed by the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) and the Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA) with the EU, the threat to seed-saving embedded in the Plant Breeders Rights Bill C-18, the crisis created by the shortage of rail cars to […]
Fair Rail Freight Service Act is a failure
The agriculture industry is an important economic driver in Canada, supporting farmers themselves, suppliers, food processors, and all other stakeholders in the food industry. Grains are a big part of our agriculture industry with 15 million hectares of wheat, barley, oats, and rye grown by farmers in fields right across this country just last […]
