Ontario Premier Doug Ford has drawn another aggie from his existing cabinet to replace Ernie Hardeman as his agriculture minister. Ford on Friday announced a major cabinet shuffle, dropping Hardeman, the long-time MPP for Oxford, from the cabinet table and naming Lisa Thompson as minister for agriculture, food and rural affairs. Thompson, who until Friday[...]
Major Quebec hothouse grower seeks creditor protection
One of Quebec's best known greenhouse propagators, who in recent years launched an aggressive expansion into organic vegetables, is seeking creditor protection. Les Serres Lefort, which operates almost 50 acres of greenhouse facilities at Sainte-Clotilde in Quebec's Monteregie, announced Sept. 10 it had filed a notice of intention on Sept. 6 to file a proposal[...]
Farm groups weigh options after hog truck verdict
Officials with Ontario farm groups plan to "discuss next steps" following the dismissal of charges against an animal welfare activist who gave drinks to hogs aboard a livestock trailer. Justice David Harris of the Ontario Court of Justice on Thursday dismissed a charge of criminal mischief against Anita Krajnc of the self-described "grassroots, animal rights,[...]
Ont. Tories' former ag critic returns to post
Ontario's provincial Progressive Conservatives have brought back a former agriculture critic in a shuffle of their shadow cabinet as the legislature returns to work. Toby Barrett, the MPP for Haldimand-Norfolk since 1995 and Tory ag critic from 2005 to early 2008, has been renamed as critic for agriculture, food and rural affairs, replacing Oxford MPP[...]
Ontario voters return ag incumbents in Wynne's win
Ontario's incumbent agriculture minister and her opposition critics are all headed back to Queen's Park as voters gave Premier Kathleen Wynne's Liberals a new majority mandate Thursday night. Wynne, who pledged during her campaign for the Liberal leadership in 2012 to name herself as minister of agriculture for at least a year, won 59 of[...]
Campari makes play in Canadian whisky
Staking a claim in the smoking-hot Canadian whisky market, Italian beverage giant Campari is poised to snap up what's billed as the only independent whisky maker in Ontario. Gruppo Campari on Wednesday announced a cash deal to buy full ownership of Forty Creek Distillery of Grimsby, Ont. for $185.6 million. Milan-based Campari said Forty Creek,[...]
Ontario may see record winter wheat acres
(Resource News International) -- With drought conditions in Russia causing wheat prices to soar, producers in Ontario are preparing to sow what could be the largest winter wheat crop in their province's history. The previous record for winter wheat acres seeded in Ontario is 1.2 million. Martin Harry, eastern marketing manager for SeCan at Ingersoll,[...]
Former Ont. ag critic Murdoch won't run again
Ontario Tory MPP and rural affairs critic Bill Murdoch has announced he won't seek re-election next year. When election time comes, provincial Tory leader Tim Hudak said Monday, the Ontario legislature "will lose one of its most tenacious members, a true maverick and a long-standing champion of rural and agricultural Ontario." First elected in 1990[...]
Ont. Greenbelt not saving livestock operations: study
For a protected area that was meant to preserve southern Ontario's farmland and agriculture, the Greenbelt doesn't seem to have done the job for livestock producers, a new study suggests. It shouldn't surprise anyone that "traditional" livestock operations, such as dairy, beef and hog farms, have experienced a decline throughout Ontario since 2001. But the[...]
Rural affairs added to Ont. ag critic's file
Ernie Hardeman, the Ontario Tories’ agriculture and food critic, will now handle rural affairs as part of his critic portfolio. The Tories’ new leader, Tim Hudak, announced the move when introducing his new shadow cabinet Monday. As rural affairs critic, Hardeman replaces Perth-area MPP Randy Hillier, who was named Monday as the opposition critic for[...]
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
