The Alberta government has launched a five-year Economic Development in Rural Alberta focused on key issues for rural Alberta. The plan includes economic development-enabling infrastructure, rural business supports and entrepreneurship, support for labour force and skills development, marketing and promoting rural tourism, and rural economic development capacity building. In the audio below, Nate Horner, Minister… Read More
Category: Rural communities
Can governments protect valuable farmland while at the same time build housing needed for ever-expanding cities and urban cities? That question is being asked throughout Ontario agriculture this week after the provincial government passed the More Homes Built Faster Act, Bill 23. The legislation has drawn the ire of critics, as Premier Doug Ford moves… Read More
The Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba governments say they oppose changes to the federal government’s latest firearm legislation that were proposed by Liberal MPs at the committee stage earlier this week. Liberal members of the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security brought forward several amendments to Bill C-21 on November 22 that would move… Read More
Medicine Hat, Alta.-based Helicopter Air Lift Operation (HALO) will be offered guaranteed funding and a contract with Alberta Health Services, moving from a fee-for-service model. HALO will get more than $1 million in annual funding. Fort McMurray, Alta-based Helicopter Emergency Rescue Operation (HERO), although already in receipt of provincial funding, will double its current annual… Read More
In the Palliser Triangle, we’ve been asking the same question since we realized 2021 was a write-off for many: will 2022 bring any rain? While I can’t predict the weather, I can tell you there’s been numerous things happen this week that have had the neighbours and I talking. This naturally made me want to… Read More
This editorial was first published on Breaking the Box blog by Kristjan Hebert. Like many, we run a family farm in Saskatchewan. It was started by my grandfather and then taken over by my dad, Louis, in 1978. I started renting land in the late 1990s. In 2009, after I’d spent several years as a… Read More
The Canadian farming, food, and agriculture export sector generates millions of jobs and billions of dollars in value for the Canadian economy. For such an important industry, some are criticizing the Liberal government for not including enough for the sector in the 2021 budget. Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), says there… Read More
Rural crime is unfortunately one of those topics that more of us have been impacted by than not. Whether it be through a neighbour, your own farm, or a friend across the country, rural crime happens. Farm specific crime, such as stolen fuel or grain or rustled animals, often ticks up when commodity prices rise…. Read More
The Manitoba government’s move to close over 20 agriculture offices in rural communities is part of a larger effort to restructure and modernize the entire department, says the provincial minister of agriculture and resource development. “This is not about cost savings. This is about enhancing service,” said Blaine Pedersen, speaking with media on Thursday, the day… Read More
Community organizations have really struggled this year — especially with fundraising. Many of the events that were scheduled for the year, and subsequently cancelled, were meant as the major fundraiser for food banks, churches, daycares, and other important parts of rural communities. A big boost to these rural community organizations came from UFA, and joining… Read More