The federal government is now accepting applications for a suite of programs that will be funded under the five-year Sustainable Canadian Agriculture Partnership, which succeeds the current agricultural policy framework on April 1. The funded programs include AgriAssurance, AgriCompetitiveness, AgriDiversity, AgriInnovate, AgriMarketing and AgriScience and are part of a $1 billion slice of the new …
Food security funding welcomed
While the provincial budget has yet to be receive approval in the legislature, the province is wasting no time in rolling out announcements related to its spending plans. This week saw Premier David Eby and agriculture minister Pam Alexis join with social development minister Sheila Malcolmson and industry representatives in Vancouver to announce more than …
Butcher hub moves ahead after three years
ROCK CREEK – A planned food hub in the Kootenay Boundary region could be a reality this fall after three years of planning, supporting local meat processing capacity in the southern Interior. “There have been a lot of changes since we first began discussions in the spring of 2020,” says Vicki Gee, who was formerly …
Animal activists target abattoir
Video footage from surveillance cameras installed at Meadow Valley Meats in Pitt Meadows is underscoring the ongoing threat local livestock operations face from animal activists. Thousands of hours of footage handed over to the province on February 22 show what the group Animal Justice Canada alleges is the criminal mistreatment of animals and improper slaughter …
Carbon tax rebate announced
This week’s provincial budget delivered on a long-time wish of the agriculture sector by nixing the carbon tax rebate program in favour of a point-of-sale reduction similar to what exists in other jurisdictions. The change is one the BC Agriculture Council and greenhouse growers have been urging for years, most recently during the Ag Days …
Federal tax targets homes
Concerns are growing that a new federal tax designed to curb foreign speculation on residential real estate in Canada could take farmers by surprise. The so-called Underused Housing Tax is part of a package of measures that took effect January 1, including a two-year ban on foreign ownership. The new UHT could see foreign nationals …