A proposal from Quebec’s labour minister to end a four-month strike at a major hog slaughter plant, which has created a backlog of market-weight hogs on farms in Eastern Canada, has been rejected by the workers’ union. Provincial Labour Minister Jean Boulet, at a meeting Thursday morning, put out a proposal to meat packer Olymel […] Read more
Union rejects province’s call for arbitration in Olymel strike
Labour minister had proposed third-party settlement
Singapore clears all Canadian beef for import
Country first to lift BSE-era restrictions under new status
Canada’s new official international status as a “negligible risk” country for bovine spongiform encephalopathy now has its first recognition from a beef-importing nation. Singapore has approved the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s certificate for exports of all Canadian beef, including beef offal, with no restrictions on the age of the cattle from which the beef was […] Read more
Olymel’s striking Quebec workers get layoff ultimatum
Hog slaughter plant idle since late April
Updated — The threat of job losses for about half the unionized workers at a major pork packing plant in Quebec is its owners’ latest bid to end a four-month strike. Olymel announced Tuesday it will “abolish” the evening shift at its hog slaughter and processing plant at Vallee-Jonction, about 60 km southeast of Quebec […] Read more
Time for arbitration in Olymel strike, PQ says
Province's new mediator not enough, party says
Quebec’s third opposition party is calling on the province’s CAQ government to propose arbitration for an end to a strike at a major pork slaughter plant. The Parti Quebecois’ ag critic, Matane-Matapedia MNA Pascal Berube, and its labour critic, Jonquiere MNA Sylvain Gaudreault, made the pitch Friday, after workers from Olymel’s plant at Vallee-Jonction voted […] Read more
StatsCan sees higher cattle, hog inventories at July 1
Full impacts of West's drought not yet counted
Nationwide head counts of livestock from the “early stages” of Western Canada’s ongoing drought won’t yet show the weather’s full impact, but showed slightly larger herds heading into this summer compared to last year. Statistics Canada on Monday reported the first year-over-year increase in the size of the country’s cattle herd as of July 1 […] Read more
Plans afoot to move hay from East to drought-hit West
CFA, BFO spearheading Hay West-style initiatives
Farm groups are spearheading new plans to get livestock feed from Eastern Canada to drought-damaged regions of the western provinces and northwestern Ontario. Details are still pending, but the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) announced Aug. 12 it has started work on a “Hay West” initiative to get surplus hay “to those struggling in the […] Read more
U.S. railway’s board sticks with CN’s bid
Kansas City Southern board spurns sweetened CP bid
The board of directors for a U.S. railway facing takeover bids from each of Canada’s big two railways is sticking with Canadian National Railway’s (CN) proposal. The board for Kansas City Southern (KCS), in a release Aug. 12, said it unanimously agrees an upgraded Aug. 10 cash-and-stock bid from Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) “does not […] Read more
Striking Quebec pork plant staff reject deal with Olymel
Quebec hog farmers call for province to intervene
Quebec’s hog farmers now want Premier Francois Legault to step in on a months-long strike at a major pork packing plant after its workers rejected a tentative deal between their union and employer. Workers at Olymel’s plant at Vallee-Jonction, about 60 km southeast of Quebec City, met Tuesday evening to vote on an agreement in […] Read more
Nova Scotia Tories’ ag critic returns as party wins election
PCs oust incumbent Liberals, form majority
The agriculture critic for Nova Scotia’s opposition Progressive Conservatives is set to return to the legislature, this time as part of a majority government, following Tuesday’s provincial election. As of about 12:30 a.m. Wednesday, Tim Houston’s PCs were elected or leading in 31 of 55 ridings, followed by Iain Rankin’s incumbent Liberals with 17 and […] Read more
BHP approves Saskatchewan potash project’s completion
Major miner expects to produce about 4.4 million tonnes of fertilizer per year
After over a decade of development and digging, one of the world’s biggest mining and metals companies has granted its Saskatchewan potash mining project the go-ahead to completion and full production. Australian-British mining firm BHP announced Tuesday its board has approved its potash mine about 60 km southeast of Humboldt, near Jansen, Sask., for another […] Read more
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