Former CFA president Mary Robinson has been named to the Senate. She’s pictured at the CFA’s AGM in Ottawa in February 2020. (CFA-fca.ca)

Robinson named to Senate

Former CFA president brings agricultural and business acumen to Canada’s upper house

Mary Robinson, former president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, has been appointed to the Senate.




Lobbyist Dave Carey at Manitoba Ag Days in Brandon, Man., on Jan. 16, 2024. Photo: Jim Timlick

Share concerns, build relationships with MPs, lobbyist says

Stay informed and hold representatives to account regardless of affiliation, farmers hear

“Meet with your member of Parliament annually. That’s how you inform politicians. That’s where you can gain some real momentum and leverage. It only takes one MP to stand up at caucus and say I visited my constituents and this is the big issue,” said Dave Carey.






Photo: daoleduc/iStock/Getty Images Plus

Senate speaker rules members bullied other senators over Bill C-234

Senators threatened retaliation if colleagues didn't "give way", attempted to constrain them in their duties, says speaker

Hot-tempered Conservative senators' actions over lightning rod Bill C-234 constituted intimidation, the Senate speaker ruled yesterday. "Senators have explained how they felt threatened and intimidated in the performance of their duties, here where we should model the best behaviour for our fellow citizens," said speaker Raymonde Gagné in her decision yesterday.


(Photo: Dave Bedard/File)

Canada’s Indo-Pacific ag office takes step forward

The joint CFIA-AAFC venture is part of a plan to diversify exports to the Indo-Pacific region

The federal government took another step yesterday toward establishing its Indo-Pacific Agriculture and Agri-Food Office (IPAAO) in Manila, Philippines, with the appointment of its first executive director. Federal ag minister Lawrence MacAulay announced that Diedrah Kelly had been appointed to the post. Kelly is a long-time representative of Global Affairs Canada and recently was Canada’s […] Read more

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Ottawa lines up with farmers on right-to-repair

Feds to call for owners to be able to repair their own equipment

The federal government says it’s siding with Canadian farmers on the right-to-repair debate. An announcement this week from the federal government called for an adjustment to the Competition Act that would prevent manufacturers from refusing to provide the means of device and product repair in an “anti-competitive manner.” That declaration came in the government’s 2023 […] Read more