A photo surfaced yesterday showing former federal trade minister Ed Fast and current federal minister of international trade Chrystia Freeland sharing a full-on hug in the House of Commons at Ottawa. Wait a minute…how can this be? Fast is a Conservative with the former ruling government. Freeland is with the still-shiny-new current Liberal government. Aren’t they supposed… Read More
Tag: Ed Fast
Official Opposition leader Rona Ambrose unveiled the Conservatives’ shadow cabinet on Friday, assigning experienced MPs and former cabinet ministers to new critic roles. Former Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz has been tapped to serve as International Trade critic, a natural fit following his work on building market access as ag minister. Ritz will closely follow the ongoing country-of-origin… Read More
The Privy Council Office has clarified the rules regarding the conduct of government officials, including ministers, during an election. The details are of particular interest for farm groups because they allow Trade Minister Ed Fast and Canadian negotiators to continue participating in Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations. Trade ministers and lead negotiators from the 12 participating countries… Read More
Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz and International Trade Minister Ed Fast announced this week that the Government of Canada has opened the Ukrainian market for beef from cattle under 30 months (UTM) and ready-to-eat meat. This new market access marks follows the lifting of Ukraine’s ban on Canadian beef products in 2014. Canadian beef and ready-to-eat… Read More
Canadian farmers who own dairy or poultry quota may not have to live with the stress that comes from marketing a product on a volatile open market, but their stress comes in another form: the worry that the federal government will pull the rug (or one of the three pillars) out from under the regulatory… Read More
The diversity of North American agriculture is again on display in this week’s news podcast. From the farmer’s role in fighting antibiotic resistance to how Canadian dairy farmers could be affected by a potential Trans-Pacific Partnership to the trends at AgTech Week down in San Francisco, here’s a summary of what happened “This Week on Real… Read More
International Trade Minister Ed Fast was in Regina last week to meet with agricultural equipment exporters and farmers during Canada’s Farm Progress Show. The minister hosted an invitation-only roundtable with 25 companies on Friday morning. Following the meeting, he toured some of the show’s exhibits. “Canada is a relatively small market. Our market is the world. The… Read More
The World Trade Organization has once again sided with Canada and Mexico, as the WTO Appellate Body published a fourth and final ruling on U.S. country of origin labeling rules today. The appeal panel decision affirmed earlier rulings saying COOL illegally discriminates against foreign livestock (read the report and findings here). “The United States has used and… Read More
Today, the United States officially lodged an appeal to the third and most recent World Trade Organization ruling on Country of Origin Labelling (COOL). Canadian Ministers are not pleased with the announced appeal. The Honourable Ed Fast, Minister of International Trade and the Honourable Gerry Ritz, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food issued the following statement… Read More
The Government of Canada released a statement today regarding formally asking the World Trade Organization to establish a compliance panel on U.S. Country of Origin Labeling. The Honourable Ed Fast, Minister of International Trade, and the Honourable Gerry Ritz, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, today issued the following statement on U.S. Country of Origin Labelling… Read More