(Video screengrab from CBSA-asfc.gc.ca)

Trump says U.S.-Canada trade deal possible, excluding Mexico

Reading Time: 3 minutes Washington | Reuters –– U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would be open to a bilateral trade pact with Canada if a deal cannot be reached with Mexico to substantially revise the North American Free Trade Agreement. Asked by a reporter if he could envision maintaining free trade with Canada if NAFTA talks […] Read more

Ask the right questions of your management consultant

Ask the right questions of your management consultant

Farmers can go online and get 10 different quotes for the same model of tractor — but that’s not so with hiring a farm business management consultant. “Farmers get frustrated when they look on the soft side of business — the management or consulting side — because they don’t know if they’re getting fair value,”[...]
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Associate ag critic John Barlow, shown here in July 2015. (JohnBarlowMP.ca)

Consultations close on tax planning proposals

Reading Time: 3 minutes Calls from farm groups and federal opposition politicians for further consultations on a proposed overhaul of the private corporation tax system have been shut down in the House of Commons. A motion Tuesday from Ontario Tory MP Pierre Poilievre, vice-chair of the Commons finance committee, calling for consultations to continue beyond their Monday deadline through[...]
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A Metro grocery store at the Orangeville Mall in Orangeville, Ont. (Onereit.ca)

Metro to buy Jean Coutu to stave off looming risks

Reading Time: 2 minutes Toronto | Reuters — Metro Inc., Canada’s third-biggest food retailer, on Monday agreed to buy pharmacy chain Jean Coutu Group for $4.5 billion in cash and stock, paying what analysts said was a “steep” premium to protect against risks facing the retail sector. The deal comes at time when global retail giants like Amazon.com, Wal-Mart[...]
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Province House, home of the Nova Scotia Legislature, as seen in 2008. (NSLegislature.ca)

Nova Scotia to help black residents get land titles

Reading Time: 2 minutes London | Thomson Reuters Foundation — Historic black communities in Nova Scotia will be given funds to establish legal ownership of land where they have lived for generations, the government said, in a drive to solve what critics call a case of long-running discrimination. The provincial government will spend $2.7 million over two years to[...]
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(JeanCoutu.com)

Metro in ‘advanced’ talks to buy Jean Coutu chain

Reading Time: 2 minutes One of Eastern Canada’s major players in the grocery sector is in “advanced discussions” to take up one of the region’s major drugstore chains. Montreal-based Metro Inc. announced Tuesday it’s in “exclusive” talks with the Jean Coutu Group on the possibilities of a cash-and-stock takeover valued in some reports at around $4.5 billion. A non-binding[...]
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James Allum, shown here at a winter carnival in Winnipeg’s Fort Garry district, is the new agriculture critic for Manitoba’s opposition NDP. (YourManitoba.ca)

Manitoba NDP names new ag critic

Reading Time: < 1 minute Manitoba’s former education minister has been pressed into service as the new agriculture critic for the provincial legislature’s official opposition. Wab Kinew, who was elected Saturday as the leader of the opposition New Democrats, on Thursday named James Allum, the MLA for the Winnipeg riding of Fort Garry-Riverview, as the critic for agriculture. Allum will[...]
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