Agriculture
Agriculture
Ritz says feds want to open world markets to Canadian farmers
TOP PRIORITY: A firm believer of the marketplace, Gerry Ritz says he wants to make sure farmers have access to world markets. BIGGEST CHALLENGE: He says there were some ‘great agricultural announcements’ in last week’s federal budget, but rather than work on the economy, the opposition parties are ‘forcing’ an election. O pening up world […]
Blackburn sets feds’ sights on young farmers
In order for the agriculture industry to remain stable, the government must focus on young farmers, says Minister of State for Agriculture Jean-Pierre Blackburn. “We need absolutely to be sure that young farmers will be there for the future of this country and to feed our population,” Mr. Blackburn (Jonquière-Alma, Que.) told The Hill Times […]
Liberals promise to wipe slate clean, rebuild Canadian agricultural and develop food policy
Responsible for eight per cent of Canada’s GDP, agriculture remains one of Canada’s most important industries. Farmers and their production base are the main drivers of the industry and yet the financial support from the federal government continues to be eroded away. For farmers, the budget was an absolute failure, however, the main estimates contains […]
Feds should revise AgriFlexibility program, apply it to risk management
In 2006, the Conservatives’ election campaign focused on five key priorities. Agriculture was not one of those priorities. So where does agriculture stand five years later? With some 42,000 farmers on just under 30,000 farms generating $6.9-billion in sales, agriculture is essential to Quebec. Agriculture is a priority for the Bloc Québécois. The Bloc Québécois […]
Feds should recognize agriculture as real opportunity for economy, say farming groups
While the federal government is working aggressively to gain access to world markets for the Canadian agriculture industry, farming groups say the government needs to put out a strong signal that they “recognize agriculture as a real potential opportunity” for the Canadian economy. “If you read some of the articles on the growing demand for […]
Farmer groups welcome to proposed Canada-European Union free trade agreement
Farmers groups say they are not worried about European competition and welcome a proposed Canada-European Union free trade agreement which they say will open up markets for their agricultural products and keep Canada globally competitive. “Europe, for us is almost a dream market. It is a large beef-consuming market, it’s a high income market, very […]
Canada at ‘competitive disadvantage’ in funding innovation, say industry stakeholders
Changes to Canada’s tax regime are working to attract flagging foreign investment to Canadian innovation, but firms are still having a hard time accessing funds for their new ideas, say business and industry insiders. “We have a good research base in this country. When you have the resources to drive the research you can do […]
Funding for innovation most likely to be cut in next budget, say opposition MPs
With the government’s commitment to slay the now estimated $27.4-billion budget deficit, opposition MPs say “there’s no doubt” that funding for innovation will be cut in the upcoming March budget. “The government has kind of indicated that they have to cut right across the board, and I imagine since there is not specific long term […]