Quebec hog producer Rene Roy is the new chairman of the Canadian Pork Council. (Cpc-ccp.com)

Canadian Pork Council names new top brass

Rene Roy elected as council's new chair

A few weeks after hiring a new executive director, members of the Canadian Pork Council have also chosen their new board chair and first vice-chair. The council on Tuesday announced it had elected Rene Roy, a hog producer from St-Jules in Quebec’s Beauce region, as its new board chair, and Scott Peters, a producer from […] Read more

A man reacts as protestors continue blocking access to the Ambassador Bridge at Windsor, Ont. on the evening of Feb. 11, 2022. (Photo: Reuters/Carlos Osorio)

Farm and agrifood groups press for clear border crossings

Injunction granted to clear Ambassador Bridge blockade

Groups representing Canada’s farm and agrifood sectors want to see an “immediate” end to multiple border blockades thrown up in recent weeks by protestors in three provinces — while the auto sector has secured a court order that one blockade be taken down. The Canadian Federation of Agriculture, Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance, Canadian Cattlemen’s Association, […] Read more


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Feds back pork producers with new levy on imports

New national pork agency to be up and running next summer

A new agency will use funds from a new levy on imported pork to pay for research and promotion for the Canadian pork sector. Federal Agriculture Minister Marie Claude Bibeau on Thursday officially announced the creation of the Canadian Pork Promotion and Research Agency (PRA). The Farm Products Council of Canada (FPCC) and Agriculture and […] Read more

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Hog farmers face prolonged pain as pandemic gives way to glut

Canadian Pork Council takes new tack on AgriStability reform

Winnipeg | Reuters — North America’s hog farmers face prolonged pain beyond the COVID-19 pandemic that has interrupted packing plants , as a pig glut in the U.S. holds prices low and pressures producers to downsize. Many North American hogs had nowhere to go in spring as slaughter plants suspended production due to workers becoming […] Read more


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Pork sector’s calls for aid heard, not yet answered

Federal government says it's examining "all options"

Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau’s office said late last week the government is working “around the clock” to respond to the pandemic’s impact on farmers and agri-food businesses. But there was no commitment to the direct support Canadian pork industry officials say is now necessary to carry the sector through a crisis which has led […] Read more

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Pig farmers seek aid of $20 per hog against market crash

Losses of $675 million expected from COVID-19-related causes

Canada’s hog producers seek an immediate federal cash injection equivalent to $20 per hog against a market crash that’s expected to cost their sector about $675 million overall. Officials with the Canadian Pork Council on Thursday called for Ottawa to provide further aid to hog farmers who are now expecting to lose $30 to more […] Read more


(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Meat packing sector needs federal inspectors

Shared staff, recalling recent retirees among options on table

The federal government is working on ways it can maintain inspection staffing levels at federally-licensed meat packing plants. Speaking to media Saturday in Ottawa, Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau addressed concerns surrounding the ability of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) to continue meat inspection work. The Reuters news service on Monday quoted two unnamed sources […] Read more




Toronto MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith’s bill to tighten animal cruelty legislation in Canada has been voted down in the Commons on second reading. (NErskine-Smith.liberal.ca)

Bill to tighten cruelty laws downed in Commons

A federal private member’s bill meant to tighten animal cruelty laws in Canada — alarming farm organizations and energizing animal welfare groups en route — has gone the way of most private members’ bills. Bill C-246, introduced in February by Toronto Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith and given first reading, died Wednesday in the House of […] Read more