Reading Time: 2 minutes Quebec has lost its last path of appeal against an interprovincial trade panel’s decision on restrictions for sales of vegetable oil-based dairy products in the province. An appellate panel, convened under the Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT), on Wednesday released a Jan. 26 report which upholds an AIT panel’s ruling last spring, favouring Saskatchewan’s challenge against Quebec’s […] Read more
Trade panel rejects Que. appeal on edible oil products
Pork packers Olymel, Atrahan plan ‘partnership’
Reading Time: 2 minutes Meat packer Olymel has a “partnership” pact in hand with a competing Quebec pork player for joint operation of both companies’ hog slaughter and processing businesses. Olymel, the pork and poultry arm of La Coop federee, announced an agreement in principle Wednesday with family-owned packer Atrahan Transformation, to start talks on “pooling our operations in […] Read more
Prairie crop checkoff tax credits pegged for 2014
Reading Time: 2 minutes Prairie crop growers who are preparing their returns for the 2014 tax year and didn’t ask for refunds on their crop checkoffs may be able to see some of those funds come back in tax credits. Some crop commodity groups’ checkoffs qualify for the federal Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR+ED) tax credit, which can […] Read more
Last-minute tentative deal averts lockout at CN
Reading Time: 2 minutes Canadian National Railway (CN) has pulled its lockout notice after reaching a tentative labour deal with its unionized mechanical and clerical staff. The company, which last week set a lockout deadline of 11 p.m. ET Monday for employees represented by Unifor, announced the agreement late Monday night. “We are very pleased that the company and […] Read more
CN set to lock out 4,800 mechanical, clerical staff Monday
Reading Time: 2 minutes Canadian National Railway (CN) plans to lock out about 4,800 unionized employees across Canada starting Monday night (Feb. 23) unless their union agrees to arbitration for a new contract. Montreal-based CN’s move follows Thursday’s announcement by Unifor — the union representing CN’s mechanical, intermodal and clerical workers — that it will hold a strike vote […] Read more
Parmalat to shut Quebec mozza plant
Reading Time: < 1 minute The Canadian arm of Italian dairy giant Parmalat plans to close a mozzarella processing plant near Montreal and consolidate its Quebec cheesemaking work at one major facility. Parmalat said Thursday it will close its plant at Marieville, about 40 km east of Montreal, at the end of September. A new production line for mozzarella will […] Read more
CFIA shrinks restricted zone in B.C. avian flu outbreak
Reading Time: 2 minutes Quarantines ending on poultry and egg farms in British Columbia’s Fraser Valley have allowed federal officials to slightly pull back their zone coverage against the spread of avian flu. As of last Thursday (Feb. 12), federal quarantines are lifted on five of the 11 commercial broiler, turkey and egg farms that were confirmed in December to be […] Read more
Repair, inspection staff at CN prep for strike vote
Reading Time: 2 minutes Locomotive and rail car maintenance, repair and inspection staff at Canadian National Railway (CN) plan to take a strike vote early next week, their union said Thursday. Unifor, the largest union at CN with over 4,800 members, said Thursday it will hold the vote over a period of up to three weeks, and would set […] Read more
Double-cropping project aims to cut Indian lentil imports
Reading Time: < 1 minute Researchers on a project in India and Bangladesh say they hope it will greatly reduce their lentil imports. Farmers in the project are growing lentils in fields left fallow after rice harvests, with the help of a research and training project by the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA). In a […] Read more
Cow-calf producers asked to take survey
Reading Time: < 1 minute The Beef Cattle Research Council (BCRC) is asking every cow-calf producer in B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba to complete the Western Canadian Cow-Calf survey. The deadline to complete the survey is Feb. 28. It can be filled out online but the website also provides an option to print the survey and mail it postage-free. First […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
