The Manitoba government has tapped another federal veterinarian to lead its animal health and welfare, food safety and livestock biosecurity programs. Dr. Megan Bergman, most recently the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s regional director for Manitoba, was named Tuesday as the province’s chief veterinary officer, replacing Dr. Wayne Lees. Bergman graduated from Saskatoon’s Western College of […] Read more
Manitoba names new chief vet
Viterra plans new Red River Valley terminal
The site where Canada’s biggest grain handler crushes Red River Valley canola will soon also move the valley’s grain. Viterra announced Tuesday it plans to build a 30,000-tonne capacity high-throughput grain terminal near its canola crush plant at Ste. Agathe, Man. The site, which has access both to Canadian National (CN) and BNSF rail lines, […] Read more
Burger King, Tim Hortons reach deal on marriage
Two days after confirming their talks on the idea, Canada’s biggest quick-service restaurant (QSR) chain and the world’s second-biggest burger chain have lined up their US$15.5 billion merger deal. Burger King Worldwide and Tim Hortons on Tuesday announced a “definitive agreement” to combine the world’s fourth- and eighth-biggest QSR firms into the No. 3 spot, […] Read more
Bloc Quebecois’ ag critic quits party
The Bloc Quebecois’ critic for agriculture has quit the party to sit as an independent MP in the House of Commons. Andre Bellavance, the Bloc MP for Richmond-Athabaska since 2004 and a candidate in the party’s leadership contest in May, also confirmed to Quebec media he will not run in the next federal election, to […] Read more
Burger King throne would move north in Timmy’s merger
The world’s second-biggest burger chain is in talks with Canada’s biggest quick-service chain on a merger into a new Canadian-based company. Burger King Worldwide and Tim Hortons confirmed their talks Sunday, following a report in that day’s Wall Street Journal. The U.S. paper reported the Miami-based burger firm plans a “tax inversion” deal to move […] Read more
Big Rock Brewery founder Ed McNally, 89
The lawyer and farmer who founded Calgary’s Big Rock Brewery has died at age 89. Ed McNally, who founded what’s now Canada’s second largest Canadian-owned brewery in 1985, had retired as the company’s CEO in 2012, remaining its “chairman emeritus.” The cause of his death late Tuesday was not released. “Ed leaves behind a legacy […] Read more
DuPont to shed Kocide fungicide business
DuPont’s copper fungicide Kocide, used in Canada to manage diseases in bean, potato and assorted hort crops, is set to meet a new maker. DuPont Crop Protection announced Wednesday it will sell its global copper fungicide business — including its Kocide and ManKocide brands and trademarks and its Houston, Tex.-based copper fungicide plant — to […] Read more
Labels now the law for all mechanically tenderized beef
In a move to cut risk from foodborne E. coli, all mechanically tenderized beef (MTB) sold in Canada from today on must be labelled as such and list instructions on safe cooking. Health Minister Rona Ambrose on Thursday announced the new labelling requirements for all uncooked MTB — expanding a rule that’s been in place […] Read more
Cargill plant fined over cut wastewater samples
One of the largest beef packing plants in Canada has been slapped with an $80,000 fine after reporting “errors” in its wastewater data in early 2012. Alberta’s Provincial Court levied the fine against the Canadian arm of Cargill for “failing to immediately report intentionally-diluted wastewater samples” from its High River, Alta. plant, the provincial environment department […] Read more
Dr. Oetker orders McCain pizza
Germany’s Dr. Oetker is set to take a bigger slice of the Canadian and U.S. pizza market, with a deal to buy McCain Foods’ North American frozen pizza business. New Brunswick-based McCain announced Wednesday it will sell its non-Pizza Pocket-related frozen pizza business to Dr. Oetker for an undisclosed sum, pending regulatory approvals in Canada. […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
