New federal minister

What’s old is new again as Justin Trudeau shuffled his cabinet in what many say sets the stage for a general election.

Lawrence MacAulay was reappointed to the agriculture portfolio following a four-year stint as minister of veterans affairs and associate minister of national defence. He succeeds Marie-Claude Bibeau, who was transferred to be minister of national revenue.

MacAulay, a potato farmer before entering politics as MP for the riding of Cardigan, PEI, was Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s first choice for agriculture minister in 2015. He returns to that role as Ottawa pushes ahead with a sustainability agenda focused on reducing carbon emissions and heightening carbon sequestration on the nation’s farms.

Various farm organizations, including the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, the national umbrella organization representing provincial farm groups including the BC Agriculture Council, have welcomed MacAulay’s appointment.

“We look forward to working with Minister MacAulay, whose experience and expertise as a former Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food will be an asset at pivotal time for Canadian agriculture,” CFA president Keith Currie said in a statement. “As this transition takes place, I would stress the importance of maintaining momentum and a continued focus on key issues, such as continued collaboration with CFA and farmers across Canada on the development of the Sustainable Agriculture Strategy.”

MacAulay’s mandate letter from Trudeau has not been released. Each minister’s mandate letter typically sets the priorities for their term in office, including the government’s agenda for their portfolios.

The cabinet shuffle also comes less than two years into the latest mandate for Justin Trudeau, who called an early election in 2021 only to be denied a majority government for the second time in a row. The previous election, in 2019, saw the Liberals lose the healthy majority they’d won in 2015 following successive Conservative governments under Stephen Harper.

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1 day ago

It was another sell-out at the 31st annual Fort Langley Cranberry Festival on Saturday with organizers selling 5,000 pounds of locally-grown, fresh berries in less than five hours. Youth from the Fort Langley Lions Club's Young Lions program scooped, bagged and weighed several pallets' worth of cranberries. Ocean Spray donated the berries, which the public bought to benefit the community. Local grower The Bog was also selling fresh berries, having brought 2,700 pounds, which were on track to sell out by the end of the#BCAgt.

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6 days ago

There was a lot of reminiscing and appreciation of how far BC's turkey industry has come at a reception celebrating the 75th anniversary of the BC Turkey Association and the 60th anniversary of the BC Turkey Marketing Board yesterday in Abbotsford. With a slideshow of events and people over the years, guests laughed and had a lot to be thankful for. "It's an opportunity to celebrate the industry at a time of year that's known for turkey. It's a culmination of all the year's work," says Natalie Veles, executive director with BC Turkey Marketing Board.

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Love it - Deb Etsell I see you 🤩

7 days ago

BC was the sole province to see farmland values decline in the first half of this year, dropping 1.9% according to a Farm Credit Canada report released Octover 7. This represented an acceleration in value declines from last year, and contributed to a 3.9% decline in the 12 montsh ended June 30. The drop follows on a 1.7% decline last year, which Farm Credit Canada attributed to tougher times in the fruit sector. However, the mid-year report points to a broader slowdown in value growth diven by higher production costs, tighter margins and uncertainty around trade, tariffs and international markets.

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Ndp

3 weeks ago

Channels of communication remain open between the provincial and federal governments with respect to financial relief for extraordinary costs stemming from this summer's ongoing drought and wildfires, but the BC Cattlemen's Association is urging producers to register for AgriStability to position themselves for any AgriRecovery package. "Hardworking families in the ranching and agriculture sectors, who provide food for the province, need the AgriRecovery program in place as soon as possible," says BC Cattlemen's president Alex Kuchar. But the provincial election creates an unfortunate delay. "It's not fair, in any form of the word, to see all those people who have lost so much in the fires to have to wait in limbo," says BC Cattlemen's general manager Kevin Boon.

Photo | Barb Edmonson / Firefly Ranch, Clinton

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Feedback on changes to rules governing food processing in the Agricultural Land Reserve has drawn about 250 submissions. But the proposal now hangs in the balance with Premier David Eby's decision to call a snap election, which also delays discussions of assistance for farmers hit hard by this year's wildfires and historic #BCAght.

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What would you expect from the NDP, when they still had a 2 year mandate?

Ridiculous timing. We have people needing answers and have to plan for winter supplies. Fires are long past, months have gone by knowing there was going to be the need for support. Drought was written on the wall even before summer began with no snow pack. This is not new to government and they are calling for another year just as bad for 2027. I throw my hands up and wonder what else needs to be more challenging than what we've experienced over the last 6 years in BC?

250 submissions.... I'm pretty sure there are more than 250 farmers in BC