Climate Changes, Grain Exports and A New World Order in Food – August 19, 2010
There is hardly a crisis in agricultural commodities but rather a continuing recalibration between supply and demand.

Is Our Food Safety System Broken? – April 1, 2010
Slyvain Charlebois argues the debate on food safety should not about the number of inspectors hired but how to build food safety systems that serve the health requirements of Canadian consumers.

How U.S. Protectionism is Killing Canada’s Livestock Producers – September 2, 2009
Canada’s livestock producers are being hurt badly by U.S. country of origin labeling regulations (COOL). Canada must continue to fight these regulations at the WTO.

Food Safety: Quality Matters, Not Just Price – February 26, 2009
In our fast-paced modern social arrangements fewer consumers prepare food for themselves, and these few often with less available time. In filling this demand for convenience, processed foods have become a big part of our diets.

President Obama Is COOLing It – February 17, 2009
Food trade policy is essential to providing variety and affordability to consumers, no matter where they live. The food industry is largely recession-proof, but still vulnerable to external influences. With a president in the White House who seems ready to think more internationally, the virtues of free trade may be fortified. That would be welcome news to the Canadian economy during these worrying conditions.

Governments Sleepwalking Into Water Crisis – November 2, 2008
Governments, if they are not careful, are allowing communities to sleep walk towards a water supply crisis. Governments are not dealing with long term supply needs and are potentially jeopardizing the future economic prospects of rural communities.

Too Chicken to End Supply-Managed Agriculture – July 17, 2008
Canada’s politicians continue to be scared of a small rump of highly organized farmers whose government sanctioned cartel directly harms the interests of most farmers, all consumers and manufacturers.

Rural Tigers Transforming Manitoba Landscape – July 5, 2008
In spite of great odds, many Canadian rural communities, like in rural Manitoba, are experiencing an economic boom and are enjoying population growth, thanks in large part to an influx of newcomers and a regional oil boom.

New Rural Innovators are Future of Rural Canada – June 9, 2008
By relying on the Prairie pioneering ethic of self-sufficiency and independence, these farmers are breaking new ground. Instead of relying on a capital intensive model of farming, these producers are employing a variety of paths to making a living off of a limited land base.

Your Land Is Not Your Land – November 20, 2007
A Manitoba farmer recently lost a precedent setting court case against his local municipal government over the expropriation of his property for economic purposes.

Paying for the Wheat Board – August 21, 2007
The Canadian Wheat Board model has inadvertently cancelled vast opportunities in the higher end, value added part of the agriculture sector.

Barley, Free at Last – April 4, 2007
The vote margins in the barley referendum accurately reflect growers' desire for marketing choices. They can plant with the knowledge of how much and when they will be paid. Malsters are now more likely to build plants in Canada. The Wheat Board needs leaders capable of adapting to new circumstances.

The Wheat Board Should Have Remained Neutral – March 27, 2007
The referendum's over, but where does the Wheat Board go to retrieve its honour? Its interference in the process demonstrates again that it is a renegade agency willing to use the people's money to engage in special pleading.

How the Canadian Wheat Board Acquired its Monopoly Powers – December 20, 2006
A history lesson on how the Canadian Wheat Board came into existence shows that its purpose was never to obtain higher prices for farmers, who never had any say over the 1943 imposition of its monopoly power.

Ban on New Hog Barns Is Poor Policy – November 22, 2006
A moratorium on the licensing of new hog barns is only the worst in a string of poor decisions.

Show Me the Money – November 12, 2006
Cross-border sampling results agree with most of the studies that have been done. Farmers just south of the border get paid more for identical wheat and barley crops. The Wheat Board's so-called price advantage is a chimera.

Wheat Board Needs to Develop a Backbone – November 10, 2006
Advocates for the Canadian Wheat Board who say a loss of monopoly power would destroy the agency are mistaken. Its strengths could easily be translated into successful performance in a free market.

Airing Out the Wet Blanket – November 7, 2006
The outdated monopoly power of the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) sits like a wet blanket over the entire Prairie economy. From plant breeders through to the farm gate and on to our rural communities, into our cities and right to our ports, the dampening effect is widespread, pervasive and tangible.

The Wheat Board: To Vote or Not to Vote – September 16, 2006
A Wheat Board plebiscite at best will accomplish nothing and at worst derail the Conservatives’ promise of marketing choice even as it alienates their Western base.

Dual Market Denial – July 26, 2006
Ending the Wheat Board's marketing monopoly and competition would not mean its demise. To believe that is to ignore history.