Industry-led R&D a top priority in feds’ five-year agriculture plan
Agriculture Canada is partnering with the provinces and territories to invest $3-billion in agricultural innovation over the next five years, but opposition parties are raising concerns that the funding comes at the expense of business risk management programs that protect farmers in bad years. Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz (Battlefords-Lloydminster, Sask.) told The Hill Times […]
Digital media industry looks to leverage federal support into international advantage
Canada’s digital media industry is hoping that with a little support from the federal government it will be able to solidify the country’s position as a worldwide hub for digital media innovation. “We think that Canada is well-poised to stake a massive claim as a key digital entertainment cluster,” Canadian Film Centre chief digital […]
Canada must continue to prioritize innovation
As 2012 draws to a close, our country has much to celebrate. We have earned the reputation among our international peers as an innovative and hard-working nation. Some of this success can be attributed to the government’s deft handling of the economy during a highly uncertain period. Canada weathered the global recession better than […]
‘The knowledge-based economy is upon us’: minister of state for science Goodyear
Minister of State for Science and Technology Gary Goodyear may have one of the most important low-profile jobs in Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Cabinet. While other members of the government must often defend their decisions, and sometimes their jobs, before Parliament, Mr. Goodyear has spent the past four years shaping how the federal government […]
Agriculture Policy Briefing
Food and food safety top-of-mind
Food and food safety are top-of-mind issues for Canadians. The deaths caused by listeriosis contamination at the Maple Leaf plant remains a serious warning of the perils of losing food inspectors. Meanwhile, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has a credibility problem. CFIA has an inherent conflict of interest, mandated to regulate for food safety, […]
Turning a blind eye to a world of opportunity
Population growth, economic expansion, and changing diets across the developing world are fuelling an unrelenting rise in the demand for food and creating a tremendous opportunity for agricultural powers like Canada. According to the UN the world’s population will reach eight billion in 2028, up from six billion in 1999. The FAO predicts the average […]
Agriculture Canada suffered some of most significant cuts in latest budget
Canadians are now more keenly aware that their food comes from the farm gate and not the grocery store cooler and that the Canadian farmer puts it there. Food is among our most important natural resource and its production, processing, safety and sale is an invaluable and thriving industry. Support from Agriculture and Agri-food Canada […]
Reforming regulatory approval process on agricultural innovations key to industry’s competitiveness, say stakeholders
Stakeholders in Canada’s agriculture sector say reforming the regulatory approval process on agricultural innovations is key to the industry’s competitiveness, but restrictions on genetically-modified produce continue to keep the sector from tapping into European markets. “The innovation work is there, and it continues,” said Patty Townsend, CEO of the Canadian Seed Trade Association told the […]
Agri-food think tank calls for national food strategy to coordinate innovation in Canadian agriculture
If Canada’s agriculture industry is going to innovate, the federal government needs to create a national food strategy, says David McInnes, president and CEO of the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute (CAPI). Mr. McInnes told The Hill Times that a multi-government strategy would help close the gaps between scientists, producers, retailers and consumers and bring more […]
