Ottawa | Reuters — Canada on Thursday launched a review of the country’s legalization of recreational cannabis use four years ago to evaluate its impact on youth, Indigenous minorities and others, and analyze its effect on the economy and the illegal marijuana market. Canada became the first developed nation to legalize use of recreational marijuana […] Read more
Tag Archives regulations
Canada to review impact of cannabis legalization four years on
Review will also look at regulatory challenges in pot sector
Does Ontario need a separate livestock welfare enforcement system?
Recent court cases have highlighted gaps, lack of transparency in current animal welfare policy
The establishment of a provincial animal welfare enforcement agency in 2019 was greeted with cautious optimism by some farm groups. Recent cases involving livestock, however, have highlighted problems with the framework, including a lack of due-process guarantees, insufficient training for inspection officers and a general lack of transparency. Why it matters: The Provincial Animal Welfare […] Read more
PAWS regulations updated for dogs
New standards of care for outdoor dogs come into effect July 1
Owners of outdoor and Livestock Guardian Dogs (LGDs) have more to keep track of this summer. The Provincial Animal Welfare Services Act (PAWS) has updated standards of care for outdoor dogs and they come into effect July 1. They may require some producers to adjust their animals’ housing and care regime. Why it matters: The […] Read more
Re-thinking the value of farm plates for pickup trucks
Changes to the Ontario vehicle fee system cause of confusion for farm businesses
Your pickup is licensed to farm, but are the benefits worth the price to plate? “We recommend that our members – and all farmers – really look at what they use their truck for,” said Ian Nokes, Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) transportation policy analyst. If the trucks are more for personal use than farm […] Read more
China proposes new rules to ease GMO approvals
Leadership seeks 'turnaround' in seed sector
Beijing | Reuters — China is planning changes to its seed regulations that will make it easier to approve genetically modified crops, a move seen as a critical step toward commercializing GM corn. The ministry of agriculture and rural affairs published a draft document late on Friday proposing a series of amendments to several different […] Read more
Exemptions, extensions to be granted for rail crossing upgrades
New amendments would exclude low-risk field-to-field crossings
Some farmer-owned field-to-field grade crossings over Canadian rail lines are now expected to be exempted altogether from looming federal requirements for safety upgrades. Proposed amendments to the Grade Crossings Regulations, announced June 18 by Transport Minister Omar Alghabra, this week cleared their 30-day public comment period. The amendments are expected to tweak rules which were […] Read more
No credit expected for farmers’ past work in new carbon market
Work on protocols for specific projects to begin this spring, department says
Draft regulations for Canada’s new carbon market show Canadian farmers won’t receive credit for removing any greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from the atmosphere prior to 2017. Federal Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson on Friday announced the offset market, to be known as the Federal Greenhouse Gas Offset System. A 60-day public consultation period on draft regulations […] Read more
Editorial: Minding the fence lines
The idiom goes that fences make good neighbours, but fence building also makes enemies, even among people who live and work next to each other on farms. That’s why decades ago the province created the Line Fences Act to provide a mechanism to solve fencing disputes and keep them out of the courts. Back when […] Read more
Fence disputes to fall to municipalities to resolve
The Line Fences Act has provided a province-wide system for fence dispute resolution
The provincial government is eliminating the Line Fences Act, which has kept the peace relating to property border fences in rural Ontario for generations. The act will be eliminated in two years if Bill 132, a large piece of legislation designed to reduce government regulation across 15 ministries – called an omnibus bill – passes. […] Read more
New EU import curbs on fruit not Canada-specific
Ottawa | Reuters — New European Union rules that could block shipments of Canadian cherries and other fruits to the 28-nation grouping apply to all countries and “was not unusual,” a senior Canadian official said on Friday. The clarification from federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau came a day after the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) […] Read more