Farmers and the Canadian Wheat Board
Having just recently been out to a family farm (one of a dying breed) in Saskatchewan, it is clear that farmers are having a tough time of it these days – those that have not become employees working...
View ArticleThe CWB and consumers
Stephen Gordon wonders whether eliminating the Canadian Wheat Board would be of benefit to consumers: The Canadian Wheat Board: Won’t anybody think of the consumers? The Canadian Wheat Board – a cartel...
View ArticleWheat Board Plebiscite
Yesterday, the Conservatives announced three ballot options for an upcoming mail-in vote on the Canadian Wheat Board’s marketing of barley: (1) maintain single-desk marketing, (2) end the Board’s...
View ArticleTrade Balances and Jobs: Canada, the US and China
The following note, including tables, is available on the Canadian Labour Congress website: Free trade was promoted to Canadians on the famous promise of “jobs, jobs, and more jobs” and is widely...
View ArticleAttacking the Canadian Wheat Board
This article from The Tyee reviews the history of the CWB and recent attacks by the Harper government: Harper’s Hit on Grain Farmers: Tories will aid US firms by gutting Canadian Wheat Board By Albert...
View ArticleWheat Board Plebiscite Results
Yesterday’s Tyee article by Horner and Orchard provides a good historical overview of the Wheat Board, but does not mention the recent plebiscite based on which the Conservatives propose to remove the...
View ArticleThe plight of farmers in Canada
I get the Daily from Statistics Canada in my email each morning, and periodically they report on “crushing statistics”, which I believe refers to the production of vegetable oils and such (I’m no...
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Two Tory Tactics and the Wheat Board
The following column by Bruce Johnstone, The Leader-Post’s Financial Editor, does a much better job than I did of explaining the Conservative government’s flawed barley plebiscite. This column, which...
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Lawsuits Galore
While the Saskatchewan government’s decision to take the federal government to court over Equalization has captured more headlines, the Saskatchewan government is also helping to finance legal action...
View ArticleHarper’s attack on the Canadian Wheat Board
The CCPA’s Manitoba office released today an oped by Adrian Measner, the former CEO of the Canadian Wheat Board: The Harper Government and the Canadian Wheat Board By Adrian Measner When a federal...
View ArticleThe Ontario Election and TILMA
A clear contradiction has emerged in John Tory’s election promises. It reflects an existing tension in the McGuinty government’s position. As noted previously on this blog, the Conservative Party’s...
View ArticleInter-provincial Barriers: Where’s the Beef?
In yesterday’s Ontario Farmer, the federal Minister of Agriculture, Gerry Ritz, railed against “tremendous inter-provincial trade barriers.” His example was restrictions on moving beef between...
View ArticleFlaherty’s Made-Up Numbers
The following Canadian Press story is an hilariously accurate report of what happened on Wednesday when the Finance Minister appeared before a Senate committee to pontificate about supposed...
View ArticleSpeculation vs investment
Financial market speculation masquerading as investment is driving me crazy. The business press fails to understand the distinction between buying an asset the delivers a stream of income in the future...
View ArticleEvery bite counts
Our latest Climate Justice Project report, Every Bite Counts: Climate Justice and BC’s Food System, has been unleashed on the province. I have to admit that this was one of the most challenging...
View ArticleGlobe misses the mark on food
Today’s Globe and Mail features an article about the farming crisis in Canada. On close inspection the “crisis” is that Canada has not kept up its share of the global marketplace; that is, it is about...
View ArticleWorld Bank Joint Ventures With JP Morgan
(The following was sent by ITUC Washington representative Peter Bakvis and deserves wider distribution. While this action by the World Bank might reduce food prices at the margin, it would be far...
View ArticleCanada’s Breadbasket and the Food Casino
There’s been no shortage of new content on our blog this week. But I write to highlight a couple of interesting reads from other blogs. On The Globe and Mail blog, Andrew Hepburn (formerly of Sprott...
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