Waged farm workers in Alberta will be allowed to unionize and get new rules governing vacation pay and youth employment, under a provincial labour bill tabled Wednesday. The new rules are tucked into Bill 17, the Fair and Family-friendly Workplaces Act, which went through first reading Wednesday and, if passed, would take effect Jan. 1, […] Read more
New Alberta labour standards for paid farm workers tabled
Deadline extended for comment on cash ticket deferral
Public consultations on the income tax treatment of deferred grain cash tickets, with an eye toward “potential elimination” of farmers’ option to defer grain income, have been extended by two months. The federal government on Tuesday said the consultation, first announced in Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s March budget and due to end Wednesday, will instead […] Read more
Quebec sets up single line for flooded farmers
Quebec farmers whose operations have been hit by flooding in recent weeks will have a single number to call for provincial support starting Tuesday. The province’s agriculture ministry (MAPAQ), public security ministry (MSP) and ag lending agency, la Financiere agricole du Quebec (FADQ) on Friday announced a “concerted effort” to manage supports for flood-affected farms. […] Read more
Regional-level biosecurity urged against PED in Manitoba
Producers in southeastern Manitoba’s “hog alley” are being urged to keep animal movements to a minimum and limit contact with hog operations in an area that’s seen five on-farm cases of porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) this month. The province’s chief veterinary officer on Thursday confirmed positive test results for PED at a sow operation in […] Read more
Take time to judge frost damage on canola
After temperatures Thursday dropped as low as -5 C in parts of Manitoba and Saskatchewan, growers who’ve already seeded may be wondering whether emerging canola plants have survived. It’s best not to write off those seedlings right away, according to the Canola Council of Canada in a Canola Watch newsletter on Friday. It can take […] Read more
Ontario to add local weight to land use appeal process
Ontario’s Municipal Board (OMB), which handles appeals of land use planning decisions across the province, is set to be replaced with a new Local Planning Appeal Tribunal. The provincial government announced Tuesday it will introduce legislation “in the coming weeks” to replace the Ontario Municipal Board with the new tribunal, “mandated to give greater weight […] Read more
Saskatchewan to tap farm leaders for drainage board
Representatives from four Saskatchewan farmer organizations will sit on a new provincial advisory board on farm drainage policy. The provincial government on Tuesday announced the creation of two advisory boards: a policy development board and technical review board. Specific members haven’t yet been named to either board, but the province said the policy advisory board […] Read more
Four farmers named to panel on Ontario prison farms
Four eastern Ontario farmers have been named to a new seven-member advisory panel on the “potential reopening” of two federal penitentiary farms at Kingston. Correctional Service Canada (CSC) on Thursday announced the panel members, who are expected to hold their first meeting next month and to “engage with community stakeholders” on the farms’ possible reopening. […] Read more
Extensions sought for interim grain freight measures
Not expecting federal grain transport reforms to take effect until this fall at the earliest, several Prairie grain grower groups want to see an extension of the previous government’s interim rules and penalties for railways in the meantime. A proposed “Transportation 2030” package of rail reforms, pledged last November by Transport Minister Marc Garneau, is […] Read more
Flax Council cautions on seed integrity
With the latest official acreage estimates showing a jump in flax acres across much of Western Canada, the Flax Council of Canada is urging caution. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s latest Seeded Acreage Report is expecting 1.1 million acres to go into the ground this year, putting pressure on seed supplies, and putting the integrity of […] Read more
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