Having voted down two negotiated deals in the past six months, unionized conductors, trainmen and yardmen with Canadian National Railway (CN) have agreed to go to binding arbitration with the company if need be. CN on Saturday said the workers have agreed to a “last chance” offer to enter negotiations for a contract settlement, “on […] Read more
CN, conductors agree to talks, possible arbitration
Another hog virus arrives in Canada, PED tests find
Tests checking for the presence of porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) show another virus causing diarrhea in hogs has now made its way into Canada, again in Ontario. Ontario’s Animal Health Laboratory (AHL) on March 14 confirmed swine deltacoronavirus (SDCV) in samples from six hog farms, the provincial ag ministry said Tuesday in a release. SDCV […] Read more
B.C. opens up feral pig hunting
Licensed hunters can now harvest feral pigs anywhere, anytime in British Columbia, following the animals’ re-designation under provincial wildlife laws. The province announced an amendment Thursday to its Wildlife Act’s designation and exemption regulation, classifying feral pigs as “schedule C” wildlife, which ranks the hogs alongside magpies and certain squirrels for hunting purposes. The new […] Read more
CN conductors again reject tentative labour deal
Canadian National Railway (CN) wants binding arbitration after its unionized conductors and yardmen narrowly voted to reject a second tentative labour agreement. The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC), representing about 3,000 CN conductors, trainpersons, yardpersons and traffic co-ordinators working in Canada, reported Thursday its members had voted down the deal, reached Feb. 5, by a […] Read more
Mosaic chief to stay on through treatment for cancer
The Canadian-raised CEO of U.S. fertilizer firm Mosaic Co. plans to stay on the job but cut back on travel while undergoing chemotherapy for cancer. Mosaic on Thursday disclosed Jim Prokopanko, the company’s CEO since 2007, was “recently” diagnosed and is undergoing treatment. The company did not elaborate on what type of cancer Prokopanko has. […] Read more
Pigeon Ponzi scheme nets seven-year sentence
Ontario’s Pigeon King has been sentenced to seven years in prison for defrauding farmers in a Ponzi scheme running across Canada and the U.S., according to regional media. Arlan Galbraith, founder of Waterloo-based Pigeon King International (PKI), was sentenced Tuesday by Justice Gerry Taylor in Superior Court in Kitchener, following Galbraith’s conviction for fraud in […] Read more
Vancouver truckers to be ordered back to work
The British Columbia government is set to legislate unionized container truckers serving Port Metro Vancouver back into the cab. The province said Wednesday it would introduce back-to-work legislation as early as Monday (March 24), with a 90-day cooling-off period, for 250 truckers represented by Unifor-Vancouver Container Truckers Association. The work stoppage at the port involves […] Read more
World conservation ag congress coming to Winnipeg
“We are running out of dirt, and it’s no laughing matter.” So says Dr. David Montgomery, professor of earth and space sciences at the University of Washington in Seattle, and author of Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations. Montgomery, who sees the recent rise of no-till farming as “the hope for a new agricultural revolution that […] Read more
Man. storage listing for ‘at-risk’ grain near launch
The Manitoba government expects to have an online service up by the end of this week for farmers rushing to get unbinned grain up off the ground. “Our first priority is getting this grain moving, but secondly, we need to ensure we have ample space should farmers need emergency alternate locations for at-risk grain in […] Read more
Heavy ice to keep eastbound grain landlocked for now
Even under federal government pressure to get more Prairie grain moving by rail to Vancouver and Thunder Bay, crops that make it to the latter port aren’t going anywhere this week, shipowners warn. The Canadian Shipowners Association, the Ottawa-based group for Canadian companies with domestically-flagged vessels, warned in a release Tuesday the Great Lakes and […] Read more
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