Among the names received were four cabinet ministers, including RJ Sigurdson (agriculture and irrigation) in his Highwood riding. Also named were Rajan Sawhney (Indigenous relations), Myles McDougall (advanced education) and Dale Nally (Service Alberta and red tape reduction).

Upon approval of the recall petition, a three-month window is opened for those who submitted the petition to collect 60 per cent of the total number of votes cast in the most recent election in the electoral division.

In Sigurdson’s case, it would be 15,788 signatures to trigger a vote on whether the MLA keeps his seat in the southwestern riding of Highwood, which includes Okotoks and Turner Valley.

Recall petitions have been concentrated in more urban areas overall, including five from the Calgary area, which also included speaker Ric McIver.

The petitioner against Sigurdson cited unresponsiveness to contact and difficulty to get ahold of as reasons for the recall.

Not keeping regular posted office hours or responding to phone and email requests, and supporting the use of the notwithstanding clause, were also cited on the Current Recall Petitions page here.

“As your MLA, I supported action to balance children’s rights to education. The decision to invoke the notwithstanding clause was not taken lightly, but was necessary to ensure students could return to the classroom in the quickest manner possible,” said Sigurdson in his formal response to the recall petition.

“I remain fully committed to listening to and representing all constituents. I regularly respond to community concerns through meetings, emails, attending events and public forums. The recall petition’s claim that I do not engage with constituents is simply not accurate. My priority continues to be the well-being and future of our children, community and my ministerial duty to farmers.”

Elections Alberta also previously approved a petition to recall MLA Demetrios Nicolaides, the provincial minister for education and childcare.

The UCP holds 47 members in the 87-member house with the opposition NDP at 38. If all nine MLAs were defeated in constituency votes, Smith’s government would lose its majority status, with two former UCP sitting as independents.

The post Alberta agriculture minister faces recall petition appeared first on Grainews.

Joseph Gurba had become famous in Alberta by then, and even worldwide, for his provincial rat control program in the 1950s and ’60s.

The Norway rat (Rattus norvegicus), a notorious carrier of fatal human diseases, causes hundreds of billions of dollars damage annually, worldwide. The rats inhabit sewers, garbage dumps and, on the Prairies in particular, farm buildings and grain elevators. They spoil countless millions of dollars of farm-stored grain every year with feces and urine. They tunnel into buildings and chew their wiring, leading to fires. And their reproductive rate is truly phenomenal: just one female rat’s descendants can result in over 10,000 rats in just three years or so, even in our Prairie climate.

Joe took charge of Alberta’s rat program, with five or so staff, in the 1950s. Within a few years, with lots of effort, it eliminated the rat infestations in the province. Thereafter, paid personnel would continually patrol the Saskatchewan and Montana borders for any rat infestations, as the forests to Alberta’s north and the mountains to its west were natural rat barriers. Both Saskatchewan and Manitoba were encouraged to join the program over the years, but never did so.

Joe Gurba was a dedicated individual who had an excellent sense of agricultural direction. Joe was the founding force behind the western committees on plant disease and pest management that provide annual exchanges of expert analysis and research ideas between the four western provinces.

Joe was also the individual who encouraged me and others to keep the province’s one million elms free of Dutch elm disease. He was also one of the early movers behind the very successful control programs against blackleg of canola, bacterial ring rot of potatoes and fusarium head blight of cereals — concepts which, when implemented, saved Prairie farmers not millions but many billions of dollars over the past 50 years.

Joe Gurba also strongly opposed the import of wild boar farming into the Prairies, stating that if they ever got loose, they could be a real problem. He said “nonsense” to the argument of our climate being too cold, since wild boar were native to Siberia.

In a poll in the province’s centennial year to name the 50 greatest Albertans, Joe Gurba placed sixth, behind Emily Murphy and Ralph Klein and ahead of notables such as Ernest Manning, Wayne Gretzky, Stockwell Day, Joe Clark and Kurt Browning — an amazing feat for an agricultural specialist of modest demeanour. Joseph B. Gurba was inducted into the Alberta Agriculture Hall of Fame in 1992.

What caught my attention to write up the Joe Gurba story was an unpublished paper he wrote in 2002 for a Ukrainian Association meeting, titled From Peasant Farmer to Master Farmer: The Impact of Ukrainian Agrologists on the Transformation of Agriculture in Rural East-Central Alberta. This write-up outlined the first Ukrainians to farm in the 1890s at Gretna in southern Manitoba, before they brought their families to homestead in Alberta. These first Ukrainians would return to their home regions to encourage friends and relatives to move to Canada. By 1900 many Ukrainian families settled in the Vegreville area, where they co-operated with German, Scandinavian and French settlers to upgrade their homesteads. These Ukrainian immigrants were encouraged by the Canadian and British governments to bring their tools to organize and build their free homesteads. In their own country, the Ukrainians had been part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, in which they were treated badly and were little more than slave labour.

There was a very rapid buildup of Ukrainian immigrants to the Canadian Prairies before the First World War and right afterward, resulting in some 225,000 Ukrainian immigrants in central Alberta settling in some 70 or so townships. Alberta Agriculture developed an unofficial policy to cater to larger ethnic communities by employing French- and Ukrainian-speaking bilingual district agriculturalists (DAs).

Joe attributed his employment as one of those DAs to that policy, following his graduation in 1950 with a B.Sc. as part of a class of some 125 University of Alberta ag graduates. Soon many of the DAs were of Ukrainian origin, all raised on farms on Alberta parkland.

During the 1940s the number of successful Ukrainian farmers increased dramatically and very many Ukrainians became civil servants and regional and county employees. By the late 1950s there were significant numbers of outstanding Ukrainian scientists and agricultural specialists in Alberta.

So rapid was the Ukrainian immigration to Canada that it became one of the largest Ukrainian diasporas in the world. Ukrainian immigration started in 1896, as the Canadian and British governments promoted the Prairies as the “Last Best West.” By 1931, Ukrainian Canadians comprised 2.2 per cent of Canada’s population. Today there are roughly 1.4 million Ukrainian Canadians. Alberta has the largest number, at 345,000 or eight per cent of the province’s population. Manitoba has 165,000, who make up almost 20 per cent of the province’s population. About 60 per cent of Ukrainian Canadians live in Prairie Canada and make up around 11 per cent of the farming population.

I recall how, because of my frequent travels back and forth across the Prairies, I was impressed by the very many Ukrainian churches. Most were either Greek Orthodox or Ukrainian Catholic but also a mixture of other denominations. Along with the ever-present grain elevators, the churches were like beacons across the flat Prairies.

Joe Gurba passed away on Feb. 25, 2009, at the age of 86.

In December of 1991, with an 84 per cent referendum turnout, 90 per cent of Ukrainians cast their votes to declare independence from the then-U.S.S.R.

The post Memories of a great Albertan appeared first on Grainews.

The great thing was that it was animal welfare-based through and through and had all the production animal groups on its board. They all benefited from the many things AFAC did. The question is, who will carry on the charge?

I considered AFAC a very proactive group when it came to dispersing information about animal welfare. Its newsletter contained many articles about advancements in animal welfare in all species groups. It was a very objective, informed group that had respect in the industry for the things it did.

One of its big accomplishments was the emergency livestock trailers stationed at key locations across Alberta. Often they are kept at first responders’ stations, to be used in livestock trailer crashes or rollovers. They come with all the emergency gear including portable panels. This project started around 20 years ago with the first trailer around Red Deer and has grown from there. These are kept now and maintained typically by the county yards and the first responders’ groups, so that service to the public and the livestock industry in Alberta will continue. The trailers have been operating this way for several years.

AFAC had annual awards in the categories of innovation, communication industry and leadership. As I look over the list of these award recipients, there are many prominent Albertans on that list for their accomplishments.

If one goes into the AFAC website there are many documents on animal-welfare related topics such as castration, dehorning and branding that may be of interest to everyone. Hopefully, again, the various species groups will take over the archiving and distribution of these valuable management tools before the website is archived.

The other day-to-day valuable service AFAC provided was the Alert Line. Potential animal welfare issues could be phoned in and reported anonymously and calls would be followed up. Contact was made to confirm if there was an issue and education and help would be provided if needed. Advanced animal welfare issues, such as a starvation case, would immediately be advanced to the proper SPCA jurisdiction. This is still being maintained and my hope is that the SPCA will take this over.

The Alert Line has always been, in my eyes, a precursor and a sort of preventive route to correct animal welfare issues at their start, or to educate to prevent such issues in the future. It’s a win-win situation. I know of many cases over the years in which SPCA enforcement was totally prevented and the person/producer/livestock owner was better for it.

AFAC became the voice that looked after the animal welfare of all the farm species in Alberta. This would include the farmed bison, elk and deer sectors as well as more domestic species. AFAC would often post statistics on the number of calls received and it was not skewed toward any one species, based on population of that species in Alberta.

There was a yearly conference, which will now be gone, but perhaps the relevant topics will appear in other conferences such as veterinary, animal science and pure animal welfare conferences we see in other parts of the world. Animal welfare, as we know, is a big part of animal production for all the species, and we have made huge strides in matters such as housing, processing, treatments, use of NSAIDs and other painkillers, and livestock transportation.

The latest buzzword, enrichment, is one we see being used in the progressive zoos and in various changes that have been tried in confinement rearing of pigs, for instance. This aspect will continue to expand. One could maybe say a lot of the huge gains in animal welfare have been achieved by groups such as AFAC, but groups such as the BCRC (Beef Cattle Research Council) also have extension, new developments, teaching tools and animal welfare as a big part of their mandate.

AFAC, along with others, was also originally involved in setting up a directory of veterinarians in Alberta, listed by clinic and town, who work on diversified livestock such as bison, elk and deer. This directory can be found on the Bison Producers of Alberta website.

I wanted to leave you with AFAC’s Alert Line number. Many concerned citizens have helped livestock in Alberta by using this number: 1-800-506-2273. I have seen it posted in veterinary clinics, at auction markets and on fridges, as magnets have been made over the years. It is a great number to have at hand, to give to someone you know who is concerned about an animal welfare issue they have witnessed.

(Editor’s Note: The Alberta SPCA more recently announced it will maintain AFAC’s Alert Line “for the time being,” but also recommends updating contact lists to include its own toll-free line at 1-800-455-9003, when reporting an animal in distress outside Edmonton or Calgary jurisdiction.)

In closing, this is the end of an organization, but hopefully it will result in a rebirth for portions of what AFAC did, spearheaded by others in Alberta. I would say it did a tremendous amount of progressive good for animal welfare in Alberta, and I salute all those who gave their time to AFAC, whether as an employee or on its board.

The post Who will carry on AFAC’s work in Alberta? appeared first on Grainews.

RJ Sigurdson, MLA for the constituency of Highwood, just south of Calgary, was sworn in Friday by Lt.-Gov. Salma Lakhani as Alberta’s new minister of agriculture and irrigation, replacing Nate Horner.

Horner, the MLA for Drumheller-Stettler since 2019 and the province’s ag minister since late 2021, was shuffled Friday to become Premier Danielle Smith’s new finance minister and president of Alberta Treasury Board. In that role, Horner replaces Jason Nixon, who in turn was named Friday as minister for seniors and community and social services.

Sigurdson also first came to the legislature in the 2019 election and was named last October as Smith’s parliamentary secretary for EMS reform. He easily held his seat in last month’s provincial election ahead of NDP challenger Jessica Hallam by a spread of 10,450 votes.

Before entering provincial politics, Sigurdson was a senior project/general manager with, and shareholder in, Avalanche Air Systems, a Calgary-area commercial HVAC and sheet metal contracting firm.

Sigurdson’s experience in the ag file includes growing up on a small family farm north of Cochrane and working on neighbouring farms in his teens.

READ MORE: Pre-election reports analyze Alberta’s ag issues

“I am so pleased to have this team working with me to deliver on the promises we made to Albertans during the election,” Smith said of the new 25-member cabinet in a release Friday. “These are not just our government’s priorities, they are Albertans’ priorities.”

Those priorities, the government said, include “continuing to grow and diversify the economy, keeping life affordable, reforming the health care system, tackling crime, providing help for those struggling and defending Alberta’s interests.”

Smith also announced a shuffle of deputy ministers Friday, but Jason Hale, a former MLA (2012-15) and rancher, remains as the province’s senior ag bureaucrat, a position he’s held since last October.

Among other cabinet posts of interest to farmers, former municipal affairs minister Rebecca Schulz becomes minister of environment and protected areas; Matt Jones, former minister for affordability and utilities, becomes minister of jobs, economy and trade; and Devin Dreeshen, a former ag minister, remains in his pre-election portfolio as minister of transportation and economic corridors. — Glacier FarmMedia Network

The post Calgary-area MLA named Alberta’s new ag minister appeared first on Grainews.

On a crop-by-crop basis, spring wheat was 96.1 per cent harvested, durum 95.4 per cent, barley 95.6 per cent, peas 98.6 per cent, and canola 91.7 per cent.

Average wheat yields were estimated at 46.9 bushels per acre, barley at 59.7 bushels, oats 78.1, canola 39.7 and peas 40.0. Overall, average yields were about four per cent off the five-year average but two per cent above the 10-year average.

Since the end of August, crop quality deteriorated due to wet conditions. Provincially, crop quality for all crops was below the 5-year averages, with the exception of malt barley and the top two grades of durum wheat and dry peas, which were above their 5-year averages. About 66 per cent of hard red spring wheat graded in the top two grades, with 18 per cent graded as feed quality. About 44 per cent of oats graded number 2 or better. Nearly 23 per cent of barley was eligible for malt and 60 per cent graded as number 1. Almost 68 per cent of harvested canola was graded as number 1, with 17 per cent graded as number 2. About 81 per cent of durum wheat and 83 per cent of dry peas graded in the top two grades, according to the report.

As a result of cool and wet weather conditions in September and the first half of October in most parts of the province, soil moisture reserves were close to normal at the end of October. However, in some parts of the Southern and Peace Regions, there were still pockets of relatively poor moisture reserves.

The post Alberta harvest nearing completion appeared first on Grainews.

The province announced Thursday it will cut the rental fees charged under its annual Water Pumping Program, through which producers, or groups of producers, can rent pipe and pumps to fill dugouts or other suitable catch basins from nearby water sources.

Until now, the going rate this year was $500 per day for rental of a pump ($200) and a trailer carrying a mile’s worth of six-inch aluminum pipe ($300). Where six-inch pipe wasn’t feasible, the going rate until now for a pump and a trailer load of eight-inch pipe was $1,000.

The program is used by between 400 and 1,400 clients each year, the province said Thursday. Its pumping season usually runs from April 1 to Oct. 31.

The 50 per cent fee reduction will apply to anyone who uses the program in the 2015-16 fiscal year, retroactive to April 1, the province said.

The program each year gives priority access to producers “experiencing water shortages for domestic and livestock use.”

The province’s environment ministry said Thursday it will also work with municipalities in dry areas to identify “additional” public lands for grazing purposes and allow temporary grazing or haying permits in “suitable locations.”

“It’s clear that many producers are facing challenges because of the dry conditions this year, and that’s why we are finding common-sense ways to help out farmers during these difficult times,” Ag Minister Oneil Carlier said in a release.

Saskatchewan, where crop and livestock producers are also fighting dry weather this year, recently opened up 90,000 acres of its Fish and Wildlife Development Fund (FWDF) grasslands for temporary grazing.

The Saskatchewan government last month also announced it will allow leaseholders of Crown land to sublet “excess grazing or hay resources” to other producers. — AGCanada.com Network

The post Alta. cuts ranchers’ water pump rental fees appeared first on Grainews.

Premier Rachel Notley on Sunday named Whitecourt-Ste. Anne MLA Oneil Carlier to the now-expanded portfolio, which takes over responsibility for forestry from the department of environment and sustainable resource development.

Including Notley and 11 ministers — down from 16 and three associates under Premier Jim Prentice — the new cabinet was described Sunday in a government release as “lean and efficient… firmly focused on solving the challenges that face Alberta.”

The new ministers, the government said, “will partner with Alberta’s job creators — in energy, forestry, agriculture, high-tech, tourism and small business — to grow and diversify our economy.”

Carlier is one of several rookie MLAs who rode Notley’s Orange Wave into the legislature in the May 5 election, unseating Prentice’s party whip and caucus chair George VanderBurg, who’d held the riding for the Tories since 2001.

Raised on a cattle and grain operation at Val Marie in southwestern Saskatchewan, Carlier worked as a geotechnical technician for AAFC’s Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration from 1981 to 2002.

At PFRA, he was involved in “construction quality control” on projects such as southern Alberta’s Bassano Dam rehabilitation project and Crawling Valley irrigation project, and was also involved in union affairs with the Public Service Alliance of Canada.

Carlier — who now lives with his wife near Darwell, north of Wabamun Lake — later served in Edmonton as a PSAC regional representative for units including staff with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Environment Canada.

Opposition

In the legislature, Carlier will face a relative veteran in provincial politics, Drumheller-Stettler MLA Rick Strankman, who Wildrose leader Brian Jean named on May 11 as the official opposition critic for agriculture.

Strankman, a grain grower at Altario, Alta., northwest of Kindersley, Sask., and a former treasurer of the Western Barley Growers Association, has held the riding for Wildrose since 2012, handling critic portfolios including skills training and labour, culture and tourism, jobs, and Service Alberta.

Outside Alberta, Strankman is also known for risking jail time for his part in cross-border protests trucking wheat into the U.S. in 1996, in violation of the former Canadian Wheat Board’s single marketing desk on wheat exports.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper pardoned Strankman and 12 others from the Farmers for Justice group in 2012, after deregulating the CWB single desk.

Pledges

The provincial NDP’s platform leading up to this month’s election included a handful of general pledges for the ag sector, such as a review of federal rail and transportation policies for their effect on Alberta farmers, and a push for “reliable, sufficient, and fairly priced rail service to markets.”

The party also promised to “strengthen landowners’ rights for fair compensation and due process” in issues relating to surface rights; to “stand up for farmers’ rights to save and sell their seed;” and to “work with small producers to eliminate barriers to local food production and marketing.”

Notley also pledged a “green retrofitting” loan program to help families, farms and small businesses reduce energy usage affordably, and to “strengthen environmental standards, inspection, monitoring and enforcement to protect Alberta’s water, land and air.”

The NDP has also promised to end Prentice’s “costly and ineffective” carbon capture and storage plan, and to reinvest funds budgeted for the program in 2015-16 into construction of public transit. — AGCanada.com Network

The post Alberta NDP taps ex-AAFC staffer as ag minister appeared first on Grainews.

Premier Jim Prentice on Saturday appointed Verlyn Olson, MLA for Wetaskiwin-Camrose since 2008 and the province’s ag and rural development minister since 2012, as both acting justice minister and solicitor general.

Prentice said his move follows having “asked for and received the resignation” of Calgary-Acadia MLA Jonathan Denis from the justice portfolio.

Prentice said Saturday he was “made aware this morning that legal proceedings have commenced between Jonathan Denis and his estranged wife.”

Denis, Prentice said, was asked to step down from the justice portfolio “given the involvement of the courts.” No further details were given on the nature of the court proceedings.

Olson had just recently returned from sick leave following islet cell transplant surgery, a treatment designed to reduce or eliminate the need for insulin injections in people with severe Type 1 diabetes.

The additional portfolio for Olson comes after the provincial legislature was dissolved on April 7, ahead of an election scheduled for May 5. — AGCanada.com Network

The post Alberta ag minister named acting justice minister appeared first on Grainews.