Quebec’s new governing party has turned to one of its more experienced MNAs to handle the farm file. Premier Francois Legault on Thursday named Andre Lamontagne, a businessman and former supermarket owner and the MNA for the southwestern riding of Johnson, as his minister of agriculture, fisheries and food, and as minister responsible for the […] Read more
Tag Archives election — page 7
CAQ taps businessman as Quebec’s new ag minister
Trump raises ethanol use in gasoline, appeases farmers ahead of elections
Washington | Reuters — U.S. President Donald Trump launched an effort on Tuesday to increase ethanol use in the nation’s gasoline pool, delivering a long-sought political victory to the nation’s Farm Belt and angering oil refiners ahead of November’s congressional elections. Trump announced the lifting of a ban on summer sales of gasoline blended with […] Read more
CAQ’s ag critic among winners in Quebec election
The agriculture critic for Francois Legault’s Coalition avenir Quebec (CAQ) will be among the party’s returning MNAs as it forms Quebec’s next government. The CAQ pulled a majority government in Monday’s election with 74 seats, defeating Philippe Couillard’s Liberals, who were reduced to 32 seats, followed by Quebec solidaire with 10 seats and the Parti […] Read more
Quebec ag minister won’t run again
With just under four months before the province’s next election, Quebec’s current minister of agriculture, food and fisheries won’t be in the running. Laurent Lessard ended weeks of speculation Friday when he announced he won’t seek a sixth term as the MNA for Lotbiniere-Frontenac. In a statement on Facebook, Lessard, 55, thanked his constituents for […] Read more
Rural Ontario MPPs sweep into government
Doug Ford's PC party win in Ontario will mean an increasing voice for rural Ontarians in the new government
The Ontario Progressive Conservative Party swept rural Ontario ridings, as expected, last night, on their way to a comfortable majority government. The election win for the PCs and leader Doug Ford swept away 15 years of Liberal rule. The Liberals were reduced to less than the eight seats required for official party status and Liberal […] Read more
Ontario ag minister downed in Tories’ election win
The Ontario Liberals’ minister of agriculture, food and rural affairs is among the election-night casualties as the province’s Progressive Conservatives get set to form a majority government. As of midnight CT Friday, Doug Ford’s Tories were elected or leading in 76 of 124 ridings, followed by Andrea Horwath’s New Democrats in 40 and Kathleen Wynne’s […] Read more
Five questions for Ontario political parties
Political parties vying for the Ontario government had fairly similar answers to agriculture policy questions
Farmtario editor John Greig posed five farm-policy-related questions to representatives of the Progressive Conservative, Liberal, New Democrat and Green parties. (Editor’s note: Responses have been edited for length) The respondents were: Progressive Conservative: Monte McNaughton, MPP Lambton-Kent-Middlesex Liberal: Jeff Leal, MPP Peterborough New Democrat: John Vanthof, MPP Temiskaming Cochrane Green: Mike Schreiner, Ontario Green Party […] Read more
Freeland to visit Washington this week for NAFTA talks
Ottawa | Reuters — Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland will visit Washington this week in another bid to help unblock talks on the North American Free Trade Agreement, a spokesman said on Monday. Freeland will be in Washington on Tuesday and Wednesday, said spokesman Adam Austen. The U.S., Mexico and Canada are struggling to […] Read more
NAFTA nations ‘nowhere near’ a deal, USTR says
Washington/New York | Reuters — The top U.S. trade official on Thursday poured cold water on the prospect of an imminent breakthrough in talks to rework the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) hours after Canada’s prime minister struck a positive note. “The NAFTA countries are nowhere near close to a deal,” U.S. Trade Representative […] Read more
Canada welcomes Trump suggestion of NAFTA deadline extension
London, Ont. | Reuters — Canada welcomes the suggestion by U.S. President Donald Trump that the deadline for concluding talks to modernize NAFTA could be extended beyond the end of March, Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland told reporters on Friday. Trump told the Wall Street Journal on Thursday that “a lot of things are hard to […] Read more
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