Chicago | Reuters — Hurricane Irma stripped oranges from trees and prompted Tyson Foods to shut meat plants in Florida and Georgia on Monday to keep workers safe. Tyson, the biggest U.S. meat company, hopes to resume normal operations soon at chicken plants it shuttered in Cumming, Dawson and Vienna, Ga., and at a beef […] Read more
Irma whips orange trees, shuts meat plants
NAFTA ministers claim progress in talks
Mexico City | Reuters — Trade Ministers from Canada, Mexico and the United States on Tuesday said they made progress in weekend talks to update the NAFTA trade pact, consolidating language for some proposals and reaffirming their commitment to complete negotiations toward the end of 2017. A trilateral statement issued by U.S. Trade Representative Robert […] Read more
Sharp differences over labour surface at NAFTA trade talks
Mexico City | Reuters — Tensions over sharp differences in pay between Mexican workers and their Canadian and U.S. counterparts surfaced on Sunday as negotiators discussed labour market rules in talks to overhaul the North American Free Trade Agreement. Canada’s biggest private-sector union said NAFTA should be scrapped if Mexico cannot agree to better labour […] Read more
Farm groups line up against feds’ tax proposal
National, regional and sector farm groups are forming up with several major business associations on the offensive against a proposal to reform how incorporated businesses are taxed in Canada. The federal finance department tabled a series of proposals July 18, opening them for public comment until Oct. 2 for a proposed effective date of Jan. […] Read more
NAFTA talks resume in Mexico City
Mexico City | Reuters — Trade negotiators from Canada and the U.S. gathered under rainy skies in Mexico City on Friday to discuss the North American Free Trade Agreement, with the mood darkened by U.S. President Donald Trump’s persistent threats to pull out. Teams from the three countries were due to kick off a second […] Read more
Ex-agriculture minister Gerry Ritz quits Commons
Gerry Ritz, the federal minister for agriculture and agri-food for nine years in Stephen Harper’s Conservative government, is done with federal politics. The MP for the western Saskatchewan riding of Battlefords-Lloydminster since 1997, Ritz announced via Twitter Thursday morning that he “will not be returning to my seat in the House of Commons this fall.” […] Read more
Federal Tories look east for ag critic
The federal Conservatives have tapped one of their rookie Quebec MPs as the new agriculture critic for Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition. Andrew Scheer, elected in May as the Tories’ new leader, on Wednesday announced his first shadow cabinet with Luc Berthold, the MP for Megantic-L’Erable, as agriculture and agri-food critic and John Barlow, MP for […] Read more
Whole Foods slashes prices on some produce
Los Angeles/Chicago | Reuters — On its first day as part of Amazon.com, organic grocery chain Whole Foods Market slashed prices on popular items like avocados and apples on Monday by a third as it bid to shake off its “Whole Paycheque” reputation for high prices. In another sign of changes to come, a display […] Read more
Harvey’s rains sending fuel prices higher
Houston | Reuters — U.S. fuel prices surged on Monday as two more Gulf Coast refiners cut output and a third considered reductions, leaving more than 13 per cent of the country’s refining capacity offline after Tropical Storm Harvey flooded plants and shut seaports. The storm swung back over the Gulf of Mexico on Monday […] Read more
Toromont to buy Cat dealer Hewitt
Reuters — Toromont Industries said Monday it would buy privately held Hewitt Group for about $1.02 billion in cash and shares to expand its network of heavy equipment dealers in Eastern Canada. Through the deal, Concord, Ont.-based Toromont will acquire Hewitt’s 45 Caterpillar dealerships in Quebec, the Maritimes, Labrador and Ontario, increasing the number of […] Read more