Reading Time: 3 minutes Over 120,000 striking federal government employees are expected to return to work starting Monday morning (May 1) after reaching tentative agreements overnight. The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) announced after midnight Monday it had reached tentative agreements for workers in four bargaining units who negotiate with the federal Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat. Among […] Read more
Federal workers reach tentative deal
Over 120,000 PSAC members back on job Monday
Transforming the house
Business thinking is helping lead the way to a new era of world-class Indigenous agriculture in Canada. But how do we eliminate the remaining barriers?
Reading Time: 14 minutes The story of the Opaskwayak Smart Farm at Opaskwayak Cree Nation in The Pas, Man., starts with an improbable rescue. It was 2013. A group of hunters from OCN were way out in the bush when they stumbled upon a car stuck in the mud on a remote dirt road. The car belonged to a […] Read more
Elevators hope mandatory vaccination doesn’t disrupt operations
New regulations will require all federally regulated employees to comply early in 2022
Reading Time: 4 minutes Canada’s major companies hope their operations won’t be disrupted when Ottawa requires federally regulated employees be vaccinated against COVID-19 starting early in 2022. “It depends on whether employees that aren’t vaccinated will get vaccinated, or would they leave their jobs,” Wade Sobkowich, executive director of the Western Grain Elevator Association (WGEA) said in an interview […] Read more
Canada to wind down broad-based COVID aid programs
Feds opt for targeted measures as economy recovers
Reading Time: 2 minutes Ottawa | Reuters — Canada will not extend existing broad-based COVID-19 support programs for companies and individuals when they expire on Saturday because the economy is recovering well, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said on Thursday. Instead, Ottawa will introduce more targeted and less costly measures for hard-hit sectors such as the tourism industry. The new […] Read more
New greening programs planned for ag alongside carbon tax hike
Carbon price to hit $170 per tonne by 2030
Reading Time: 5 minutes A new federal climate plan which further cranks up taxes on carbon emissions also includes pledges of new programs to help sink more carbon into farmland. The government on Friday released the sequel to its 2016 Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change — a “strengthened” climate plan, titled A Healthy Environment and a […] Read more
Grain Growers of Canada lobby Parliament Hill
Agriculture can help restart Canada's economy and the federal government help by addressing some issues, group says
Reading Time: 2 minutes Agriculture can help revitalize Canada’s post-COVID economy, but the federal government should clear the track for it. That means updating regulations to encourage technological innovation, improving market access for agricultural exports and recognizing farm practices that help the environment, Grain Growers of Canada (GGC) says. The organization, which represents 15 regional, provincial and national grain […] Read more
Plant-protein processor’s new processing plant gets grant
Feds, province put up cash for new equipment
Reading Time: 2 minutes The federal and Manitoba governments have added a seven-figure contribution to their support for a new facility to process plant proteins from canola and peas. Merit Functional Foods will put the additional money toward “new equipment purchases that will support the transformation of raw inputs into value-added goods.” The unspecified new technology is expected to […] Read more
More COVID support needed: study
Agriculture funding has challenges beyond pandemic needs
Reading Time: 3 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – A new report by the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy says the level of federal government support offered to Canada’s agriculture sector during the COVID-19 pandemic has been inadequate. Ottawa should take additional steps to reduce the financial burden on farmers by providing additional financial assistance, ensuring a more stable […] Read more
Details on federal food surplus program expected in ‘days’
Ottawa already at work with businesses, minister says
Reading Time: 2 minutes Ottawa — Detailed plans of the federal government’s food buyback program are expected soon, according to Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau. Ottawa tabbed $50 million of its COVID-19 response funds for agriculture to buy surplus food from farmers and redistribute it to communities in need. The challenge Bibeau and her federal colleagues are faced with is […] Read more
Pig farmers seek aid of $20 per hog against market crash
Losses of $675 million expected from COVID-19-related causes
Reading Time: 3 minutes Canada’s hog producers seek an immediate federal cash injection equivalent to $20 per hog against a market crash that’s expected to cost their sector about $675 million overall. Officials with the Canadian Pork Council on Thursday called for Ottawa to provide further aid to hog farmers who are now expecting to lose $30 to more […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
