Lukaszuk is several weeks into a campaign to counteract the Alberta Next Panel overtures and an Alberta separation referendum question that is currently tied up in the courts over its constitutionality.

“This government has been almost singularly focusing only on oil and gas, where agriculture is rarely ever mentioned. I’ve been in this government in Alberta for almost 15 years, and held value at various portfolios, and agriculture and oil were always equals to us as the two leading industries, followed shortly thereafter by tourism,” said Lukaszuk.

“Our agricultural economy in this province is based on export. Very little food do we actually upgrade and refine in this province. Things either go to the States or they go to other countries. We have phenomenal markets and a great reputation, but a lot of this is tied to the fact that it is Canadian, and all those trade agreements are signed by Canada, and all the inspections and everything are done by Canada. Now you form this new entity, you’re starting from scratch. I am really miffed when everybody only talks about pipelines, and that is important. But what about all the other products, the agricultural products?”

Lukaszuk said there has been little discussion about what Alberta separation would mean to the agricultural sector.

How would Alberta farmers export their goods to foreign countries without access to ports?

Would a sovereign but landlocked Alberta’s international bargaining capacity be compromised if it no longer had the clout that Canada brings? What of mobility of agricultural labour and other trades with internationally recognized certification?

“This is a country of 40 million people, and we are a G7 country. They take us seriously and we to a certain extent get to dictate some of the terms,” Lukaszuk said.

“Now, Alberta, a country of four million, never mind G7, it will be lucky to be G40. How are we going to renegotiate all those terms for export of agricultural products and imports of some input products that we need? Who’s going to establish the 150 some embassies that Canada has across the world that have commercial offices, that promote Canadian products across the world?…

“Our beef, pork and poultry producers, all of their products are inspected by federal agencies which are accredited, accredited internationally and recognized. If a product is inspected by a federal government, all other countries honour that inspection. What if they don’t honour Alberta inspection? Are these things being thought about?”

Lukaszuk, an immigrant who fled communism in Poland when he was 12 years old, served in Alberta politics from 2000-15, serving under premiers Ralph Klein, Ed Stelmach, Alison Redford, Dave Hancock and Jim Prentice.

He acknowledges there is a certain irony in a city slicker former politician like himself fighting for agriculture, but his steering committee includes Stelmach, who has strong rural roots as a farmer.

Lukaszuk said Alberta Forever Canada’s steering committee is non-partisan politically, comprising right-of-centre influences such as Ian McClelland, who helped build the foundations of the Reform Party, all the way through former provincial Progressive Conservatives and former Stephen Harper cabinet minister Brent Rathgeber, who is helping manage the campaign. It also includes Anne McLellan, a former Liberal deputy prime minister and former NDP influences Brian Mason and Gil McGowan.

“This is not a partisan thing. This is common sense. They may have different political views, but they as sure as hell don’t want to separate from Canada. They understand how devastating this would be to our economy,” said Lukaszuk.

He said history shows how even whispers of separation have had crippling affects on an economy.

Bank of Montreal moved its headquarters to Toronto during the uncertainty over Quebec separation.

The United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union in 2020 has resulted in non-tariff barriers, with some studies showing reduced U.K. goods exports and smaller firms struggling with the increased bureaucracy.

Investment in the Spanish regions of Catalonia and Basque often stalls because of talk of separation.

“Business wants a couple of things. They want a good return on investment and they want stability. But they will even take a little smaller return on investment if the stability is guaranteed. Nobody wants to invest into an unstable market,” said Lukaszuk.

“When a jurisdiction starts talking about separatism, the first victim is the economy.”

The race is on for Lukaszuk’s Alberta Forever Canada petition campaign as it attempts to get the question, “Do you agree that Alberta should remain in Canada?” put on a provincial ballot.

Ten per cent of all the eligible voters (293,976) signatures must be obtained by Oct. 28 for the petition to be successful.

Lukaszuk said the Alberta premier has hamstrung the process with convenient timing of political decisions.

“Danielle Smith is playing this game where she says, ‘I’m not a separatist,’ but she’s bending over backwards to tilt the field to make it easier for her separatists. The day after I filed my petition, she proclaimed Bill 54, which makes it easier for separatists to have their petition. If they were allowed to have one, they basically would have to collect half the signatures in almost twice the time, and they would have no barriers on fundraising, where I have major rules on fundraising.”

Early petitions returns have been promising, including getting as many as 8,000 signatures in long lineups in one day, with nearly 3,000 signature collectors certified by Elections Alberta.

The number of canvassers is expected to double within the next month as they make their way across urban and rural Alberta.

Lukaszuk plans to hit the road for a month starting in September as he tours rural Alberta to encourage people to sign the petition and have open conversations about the spectre of separatism if it were to gain steam.

“It ignited a spirit of pride, and people have signed for a variety of reasons. It’s a phenomenon, it’s something I never expected,” said Lukaszuk.

“My position is the sooner we send a strong signal to premier Danielle Smith, to the rest of the country and to the world outside that we are not a divided country, the better. This country is solid by far. Most of us don’t want any changes with respect to jurisdictions. Yeah, we’re not happy with Ottawa from time to time or with other provinces, but we have always have been like that. There are processes in place where we negotiate those things.”

He said support for his petition has been strong.

“I have farmers coming to me and saying we’ve been farming on this land for over 100 years. They’re proud Canadians. Their families came here from somewhere in Europe, got land, broke the land and they would never consider leaving Canada.”

Are they angry with Ottawa from time to time?

“You bet they are,” he said.

“But so are city folks. So are people in British Columbia, and certain people in Saskatchewan. That’s just the nature of who we are. But it’s sort of like a family. You get upset with your child or your wife, but you don’t pack up and go.”

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Kurek had said shortly after the April federal election in which Poilievre lost his own seat that he would step down.

He posted the news on social media June 17, saying it had been an honour to represent Battle River-Crowfoot since 2019.

“Pierre Poilievre is a man of principle, character, and is the hardest working MP I have ever met,” Kurek wrote. “His energy, passion and drive will have a huge benefit in east-central Alberta.”

In a statement, Kurek wished his colleagues success “as they continue fighting to restore the Canadian promise and holding the Liberal government to account.”

Media outlets reported a day earlier that Poilievre would face a leadership review early next year.

Prime minister Mark Carney has not yet called the byelection, but Parliament is about to break for the summer June 20 after a brief sitting. and Poilievre could be back in the House of Commons for the fall sitting in mid-September.

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The policies laid out by the Tories include a plan to “scrap the capital gains tax hike and axe the tax on reinvestment in Canada” as well as to eliminate all carbon pricing “on everything, for everyone, for good.”

The Liberal party has also promised to scrap an increase to the capital gains inclusion rate and the consumer carbon price, but not carbon penalties for industrial emitters.

Also on the Conservatives’ cutting board is the planned food packaging tax on fresh produce.

The plan also promises the launch of a “tax reform task force” within 60 days of forming government, “made up of farmers, builders, entrepreneurs, economists and workers.”

As part of the plan to “End Foreign Influence and Economic Dependence,” the Conservatives are promising to pass a Farmland Protection act. Per the policy plan, this will help to prevent foreign governments from buying up Canadian farmland. It will also report on how much farmland is already owned by foreign governments and corporations.

The Conservatives also plan to maintain tariffs on strategic Chinese imports.

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John Barlow, MP for the southwestern Alberta riding of Foothills, was named Wednesday as the Conservatives’ “shadow minister” for agriculture, agri-food and food security.

Pierre Poilievre, who was named Sept. 10 as the official opposition party’s new leader, named Barlow to a shadow cabinet of 51 shadow ministers and 20 associate shadow ministers from a 118-member caucus.

Barlow — who in February announced his endorsement for Poilievre’s leadership bid — is no stranger to the agriculture file, having served as then-leader Andrew Scheer’s associate ag critic (2017-18) and lead ag critic (2019-20).

The party’s next leader, Erin O’Toole, dropped Barlow from the shadow cabinet in September 2020 — replacing him with southwestern Ontario MP Lianne Rood — but then brought Barlow back as ag critic last November.

(Rood is also in Poilievre’s shadow cabinet, as his critic for the feds’ regional development agencies operating in southern, central and eastern Ontario.)

Born in Regina, Barlow worked as a newspaper editor in southern Alberta before entering politics. He came to the Commons in 2014 in a byelection for the riding then known as Macleod, replacing Ted Menzies following the latter’s resignation in 2013, and has since been re-elected three times in what’s now Foothills.

Poilievre’s shadow cabinet also gives Barlow two associate shadow ministers for agriculture. One, Richard Lehoux, MP for the Quebec riding of Beauce, previously served as an associate ag critic for Scheer and deputy ag critic for O’Toole.

Lehoux, a dairy producer before entering federal politics, served as mayor (1998-2017) of Saint-Elzear, about 60 km south of Quebec City, as reeve (2000-17) for the regional county municipality (MRC) of Nouvelle-Beauce and as president (2014-17) of the Federation Quebecoise des municipalites (FQM).

The second new associate shadow minister is Warren Steinley, MP for the largely suburban riding of Regina-Lewvan, who until this week was the party’s critic for Prairie economic development and interprovincial trade.

Steinley, who grew up on a dairy and beef operation at Rush Lake, northeast of Swift Current, came to the Commons in 2019 off an eight-year run as a provincial MLA for the governing Saskatchewan Party. He previously served as an intern to the federal agriculture minister and later as director of research for the Saskatchewan Party caucus office.

Other appointees to Poilievre’s shadow cabinet of interest to farmers include B.C. MP Mark Strahl (transport, with associate critic Dan Muys), Quebec MP Gerard Deltell (environment, with associate critic Robert Kitchen), Ontario MP Michael Chong (foreign affairs), Ontario MP Kyle Seeback (international trade) and Edmonton MP Matt Jeneroux (supply chain issues).

Poilievre, in Wednesday’s release, pledged his shadow cabinet would fight tax hikes and “tackle the cost-of-living crisis so that young people can buy a home, families can afford nutritious food, and our seniors can retire with dignity.” — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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Conservative leader Erin O’Toole on Tuesday named John Barlow, MP for the southwestern Alberta riding of Foothills, as shadow minister for agriculture, agri-food and food security.

As ag critic, Barlow replaces Lianne Rood, MP for the southwestern Ontario riding of Lambton-Kent-Middlesex, who O’Toole named Tuesday as shadow minister for rural economic development and rural broadband strategy.

Barlow’s riding along the B.C. border includes communities such as Fort Macleod, Okotoks, Claresholm and Pincher Creek and extends into Alberta’s cattle-producing Feedlot Alley region.

Born in Regina, Barlow worked as a newspaper editor in southern Alberta before entering politics. He came to the Commons in 2014 in a byelection for the riding then known as Macleod, replacing Ted Menzies following the latter’s resignation in 2013, and has since been re-elected three times in what’s now Foothills.

Among other roles, Barlow served as the Conservatives’ assistant ag critic in 2017-18, and as lead shadow minister for agriculture from late 2019 up until September last year. O’Toole then dropped him from the shadow cabinet and replaced him with Rood, who until then had been deputy ag critic.

Canada’s ag industry has become “more efficient as well as more environmentally and economically sustainable,” Barlow said in a statement Tuesday. “The government should not be targeting farmers, but rather fostering and encouraging best practices and shared information.”

Farmers, he said, “worked without compromise to ensure a safe and stable food supply throughout the pandemic… If this pandemic has revealed anything, it is the absolute need to prioritize our agriculture and food supply chains.”

Canada’s farmers, he added, “can compete with the best, but they need a level playing field to do so. Many of the recent Liberal policies put Canadian businesses, producers and farmers at a major disadvantage in the global marketplace.”

As for Rood, she said on Twitter Tuesday she has been “hands-on in rural Canada throughout my life and will continue to fight for and champion the needs of rural Canada.”

As ag critic, Barlow will face the Liberals’ incumbent agriculture and agrifood minister, Marie-Claude Bibeau, when the Commons resumes sitting, now scheduled for Nov. 22.

While Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shuffled several of his cabinet ministers last month, Bibeau was reappointed to the ag file off the Liberals’ re-election in September to a second minority government.

Two other opposition parties will keep their incumbent ag critics when the Commons resumes sitting.

New Democrat leader Jagmeet Singh on Oct. 29 reappointed Alastair MacGregor, MP for the Vancouver Island riding of Cowichan-Malahat-Langford, as critic for agriculture and food and public safety, and as deputy justice critic.

Bloc Quebecois leader Yves-Francois Blanchet on Oct. 5 reappointed Berthier-Maskinonge MP Yves Perron as critic for agriculture, agrifood and supply management.

The Green Party, which in September was reduced to a caucus of two MPs — Elizabeth May and Mike Morrice — hasn’t yet announced how they’ll handle critic portfolios.

Among other portfolios of interest to farmers, the following ministers and critics have now been appointed or reappointed:

• Environment: Steven Guilbeault becomes minister, across from critics Dan Albas (Conservatives); Monique Pauze (BQ); and Laurel Collins (NDP).
• Rural economic development: Gudie Hutchings becomes minister, across from critics Lianne Rood (Conservatives) and Rachel Blaney (NDP).
• Transport: Omar Alghabra remains the Liberals’ minister, across from critics Melissa Lantsman (Conservatives); Xavier Barsalou-Duval (BQ); and Taylor Bachrach (NDP).
• Foreign affairs: Melanie Joly becomes minister, across from critics Michael Chong (Conservatives); Stephane Bergeron (BQ); and Heather McPherson (NDP).
• International trade: Mary Ng becomes minister, across from critics Randy Hoback (Conservatives); Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay (BQ); and Brian Masse (NDP).

— Glacier FarmMedia Network

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As of Tuesday morning just after midnight CT, Marie-Claude Bibeau was leading in her Sherbrooke, Que.-area riding of Compton-Stanstead by a spread of over 3,300 votes over her nearest challenger, Bloc Quebecois candidate Nathalie Bresse, with 273 of 275 polls reporting.

The makeup of the House of Commons is expected to have changed only marginally as a result of Monday’s election.

Overall, the Liberals were elected or leading late Monday night in 155 of 338 ridings, followed by the Conservatives with 120, the BQ with 33, the New Democrats with 27 and the Greens with two.

By comparison, at the dissolution of Parliament on Aug. 15, the Liberals held 155 seats; the Conservatives, 119; the Bloc, 32; the NDP, 24; and the Greens, two. Five seats were held by independents.

Erin O’Toole’s Conservatives were holding over 34 per cent of the popular vote nationwide, ahead of Trudeau’s Liberals, with just under 32 per cent; Jagmeet Singh’s NDP, with 17.7 per cent; Yves-Francois Blanchet’s BQ, with just under eight per cent; Maxime Bernier’s People’s Party, with just over five per cent; and Annamie Paul’s Greens, with 2.3 per cent.

At least two of the incumbent agriculture critics from the opposition benches are also poised to return to the Commons.

Lianne Rood, the ag critic for the Conservatives, easily held her southwestern Ontario riding of Lambton-Kent-Middlesex by a spread of more than 16,400 votes over Liberal challenger Sudit Ranade with 243 of 245 polls reporting.

Alistair MacGregor, the NDP’s ag critic, also held his British Columbia riding of Cowichan-Malahat-Langford, by a spread of more than 7,200 votes over Conservative challenger Alana DeLong, with 237 of 250 polls reporting.

BQ ag critic Yves Perron, meanwhile, appeared to be pulling ahead late Monday in a tight race in his Trois-Rivieres-area riding of Berthier-Maskinonge.

Perron faced a relatively strong challenge from a previous MP for the riding — Ruth Ellen Brosseau, a former House leader and former agriculture critic for the NDP. Perron had been trailing for part of the evening but was ahead of Brosseau late Monday by a spread of just over 900 votes with 270 of 274 polls reporting.

Trudeau’s cabinet table is expected to see some losses, including Peterborough MP Maryam Monsef, the minister for rural economic development; southern Ontario MP Deb Schulte, minister for seniors; and Nova Scotia MP Bernadette Jordan, minister for fisheries and oceans, who were trailing in their ridings late Monday.

The House of Commons is scheduled to resume sitting Oct. 18. — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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Thursday evening’s debate, hosted by the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, had plenty of discussion about climate change and how best to support producers in a changing environment.

Liberal candidate and Canada’s incumbent agriculture minister, Marie-Claude Bibeau, leaned on the small gains her government has made in AgriStability during the first round of questions, in which each partyt’s representative to consider how they would approach the next federal/provincial agricultural policy framework.

Negotiations for a new framework will be a key priority for the next government’s agriculture minister, as the current agreement expires in 2023.

Under Bibeau’s leadership, provinces agreed with Ottawa to remove the reference margin limit from AgriStability, but prospects for further short-term changes remain dim as provincial governments in Western Canada continue to consider other program options.

“We are waiting on the conservative provincial governments to make it happen,” Bibeau said early in the debate, adding she wants to introduce “climate risk” into business risk management (BRM) programming to “meet the new reality.”

“These programs can be improved and take into consideration climate risk, this is the conversation that has already started with my provincial colleagues and the industry,” she said

Conservative candidate Dave Epp, running for re-election in Ontario’s Chatham-Kent-Leamington riding, countered Bibeau by arguing the current Liberal approach to BRM programming is too much “Ottawa knows best” and not enough of a partnership with the industry.

Alistair MacGregor, a long-time member of Parliament’s agricultural committee and the incumbent in British Columbia’s Cowichan-Malahat-Langford riding, repeated his oft-used call for programming built around resiliency.

“We know that this next century, climate change is going to be a huge factor,” he said. “The next agricultural policy framework, in discussion with the provinces, is really going to have to center on how we manage the risk from climate change.”

Bibeau jumped on an opportunity to point out the last Conservative government reduced BRM funding before challenging Epp to say how much a Conservative government would invest if elected.

Epp responded by saying the provinces have been the ones to lead throughout the ongoing drought and other challenges. He accused Bibeau of dropping her AgriStability proposal on provinces with no warning “at the 11th hour” and “on the eve of an unnecessary election.”

He said it was the leadership of provinces that resulted in drought-specific relief being brought forward, and accused Bibeau’s government of moving slowly on promised reforms.

“The review of the BRM program promised is still not done,” he said.

Bloc Quebecois representative Yves Perron, again seeking to be the Berthier-Maskinonge MP, called on Bibeau to accept a proposal from Quebec farm groups and move forward with changes to AgriStability solely alongside the provinces willing to do so.

Bibeau responded by again blaming conservative governments, arguing federal programs need to be applied across Canada.

During a debate on threats to the food production sector and how to address them, Epp pointed to labour as a big issue.

Bibeau said her government plans to reduce red tape for good employers and allow for more mobility of employees, while strengthening regional supply chains, to address ongoing challenges.

“The labour shortage is definitely a very big issue right now, it’s what I hear about in the field,” she said.

MacGregor said processing capacity is a challenge, and one where parties have already found common, multipartisan ground to stand on.

“One of the biggest threats, particularly with meat processing, is in many cases we’ve put all of our eggs in one basket,” he said, citing a federal report saying processing plants should be expanded and diversified.

Each candidate offered a commitment to putting in place a Grocery Code of Conduct, something called for during the pandemic as grocers imposed new fees on manufacturers and producers.

Five companies run 80 per cent of grocery sales, and MacGregor said hidden fees from those major retailers is a problem he hears about often.

“We absolutely need to level the playing field,” he said.

Bibeau said the conduct was a “key piece of the puzzle” and said plans for developing a voluntary code are already underway.

Epp contended that wouldn’t do.

“It needs teeth,” he said. “There must be teeth and adherence to the code in order for it to be effective, that’s what I’m hearing from industry.”

When debate turned specifically to the environment, Bibeau again looked to lean on her government’s track record of investing in a green economy. The most recent investment, made during the 2020 budget, received mostly positive reviews from industry.

But Epp argued the industry “will respond better to incentives, than to the stick” in a shot at the Liberals much-critiqued carbon levy.

“The top-down approach doesn’t work, we need further collaboration with our producer groups,” he said.

MacGregor said that where no alternatives exist, producers should be offered exemptions from paying carbon fees, but said, “We have to understand there are opportunities to help farmers transition.”

A brief debate on supply management resulted in each candidate agreeing they support the policy but squabbling over efficiency in payments to producers who lost market share as a result of recently signed trade deals.

There was equal agreement on the need to modernize the Canada Grain Act and introduce reforms to allow for easier intergenerational farm transfers. Each candidate also committed to being more assertive in international trade.

— D.C. Fraser reports for Glacier FarmMedia from Ottawa.

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Bill C-208, a private member’s bill spearheaded by western Manitoba Conservative MP Larry Maguire with amendments to the federal Income Tax Act, cleared the House of Commons in mid-May and Senate in late June. On June 29, it got royal assent.

However, the federal finance department on June 30 pointed out that C-208 as passed “does not include an application date.”

The Liberal-led government said June 30 it’s “committed to facilitating genuine intergenerational share transfers, while preventing tax avoidance that undermines the equity of Canada’s tax system.”

Thus, the government said, it proposes to introduce separate legislation to “clarify” that C-208’s amendments apply at the beginning of the next tax year, starting Jan. 1, 2022.

C-208’s tax law amendments are meant to exclude the sales of farms and other small businesses to adult children or grandchildren from current anti-avoidance rules.

Under pre-C-208 tax law, Maguire said in May, “when a person sells their small business or farm to a family member, the difference between the sale price and the original purchase price is considered a dividend.”

But if the business instead goes to a non-family member, the sale is deemed a capital gain, which is taxed at a lower rate and allows sellers to use their lifetime capital gains exemption, he said.

During debate on C-208 last fall, the Liberals cautioned that Maguire’s bill, as Ontario MP Tony Van Bynen put it, “seeks to amend two of the Income Tax Act’s most important and complex anti-avoidance rules.”

Those rules, he said, are meant to apply when an individual sells shares of a corporation to another corporation that is linked to the same individual — for example, through a family member.

When shares of a Canadian corporation are sold to such a “linked” corporation, the pre-C-208 rules deem that in certain circumstances, the seller has received a taxable dividend from the linked corporation, rather than a capital gain.

The rule, he said, is meant to ensure taxpayers “cannot use linked corporations to, in effect, remove earnings from their corporations, using a sale as a basis to do so.”

But the Conservatives at the time noted C-208 requires that a family member buying such shares of a farm or small business must not sell them for at least 60 months for any reason, other than “by reason of death.”

To curb tax evasion, they said, C-208’s provisions would not apply to such a buyer who sells before that five-year period ends.

‘Intentions clear’

The Canadian Federation of Agriculture, in a separate statement Friday, took the finance department’s June 30 announcement to mean the government “will likely be making amendments in order to close potential tax loopholes.”

The CFA said its “primary concern” is that C-208’s changes to the treatment of intergenerational farm transfers “must be made clearly accessible as quickly as possible, as Parliament made its intentions clear through the passage of the bill.”

“In our talks with the accounting community, this delay, and the uncertainty around exactly what the amendments will be, will force many farmers who were looking to transfer their farm to a family member to delay their retirement plans until 2022,” CFA president Mary Robinson said Friday.

“If they transfer to a family member under the current rules, it can potentially cost them hundreds of thousands of dollars more in taxes compared to if this bill was fulfilled.”

C-208, Robinson said, would help “preserve the identity and financial stability of the Canadian family farm.”

The Western Canadian Wheat Growers, meanwhile, said they were “dismayed” to hear of the delay. “Canadians need to understand that this current government is not looking out for the best interest of Canadian family farms,” president Gunter Jochum said Monday in a release.

Federal Conservative leader Erin O’Toole also criticized the Trudeau government in a separate statement Friday for “refusing to implement a tax reduction for small business that was passed in Parliament.” –– Glacier FarmMedia Network

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Labour Minister Filomena Tassi on Tuesday announced the introduction of Bill C-29, which “would end the work stoppage at the Port of Montreal and ensure the safe resumption and continuation of operations at the port.”

Dockworkers represented by the Syndicat des debardeurs du port de Montreal (CUPE Local 375), whose last contract expired in 2018, began a full-time strike Monday morning.

CUPE 375 and the Maritime Employers Association (MEA), which represents port facility operators, “remain far apart,” Tassi said in a statement, and when “all other efforts have been exhausted, and a work stoppage is causing significant economic harm to Canadians — the government must act.”

C-29 would also set up a “neutral mediation-arbitration process to resolve the issues in dispute between the parties and conclude a new collective agreement,” she said, emphasizing the government “is not taking sides.”

Tassi also said the bill does not prevent the union and MEA from “concluding an agreement on their own terms at any point in this process.”

Given the Liberals’ minority government status, C-29 would need the support of at least one other party for passage through the House of Commons. Conservative leader Erin O’Toole said Monday on news channel LCN that his party would support the bill.

The federal New Democrats on Tuesday ripped the bill as “tipping the scales in favour of the employers” against unionized workers’ Charter right to strike. Meanwhile, Bloc Quebecois leader Yves-Francois Blanchet said Monday on Twitter that special legislation is “not the solution.”

Monday’s strike follows a 19-day work stoppage last August, a mediated truce that ended last month and, from April 13 onward, a “partial” strike in which dockworkers refused overtime and held strikes on weekends.

CUPE 375 has described the main sticking point in talks as worker scheduling as it relates to “work/life balance.”

A strike isn’t expected to affect bulk grain traffic at Montreal, as the federal Labour Code calls for port workers during a strike or lockout to “continue to provide the services they normally provide” for loading, tie-up, let-go and movement of grain vessels in and out of port.

However, a strike is expected to affect export traffic through Montreal’s container terminals, including those handling containerized crops and other agrifoods. Several Canadian farm and ag sector groups have previously called for intervention to ward off a strike.

Fertilizer Canada also said last week that a strike at Montreal would affect deliveries of imported fertilizer going into planting season in Eastern and Atlantic Canada. — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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Red Deer-Lacombe MP Blaine Calkins introduced his private member’s bill for first reading in the House of Commons on Tuesday.

“Rural Canadians too often don’t feel safe in their own homes. Many have been victimized so often they’ve given up reporting property crime. It is often difficult for people to get affordable insurance if they can get it at all,” Calkins told MPs.

“My constituents are tired of being victims, they’re tired of the revolving door of the justice system, and of crime not being taken seriously. They are losing faith in the justice system, because too often it puts criminals before victims and their families.”

Calkins said his Bill C-289 would amend the Criminal Code to add aggravating circumstances for sentencing.

If passed, it would allow sentencing to include “evidence that an offence was directed at property or persons that were vulnerable because of their remoteness from emergency services and, for the purposes of some offences, the fact that a person carried, used or threatened to use a weapon or an imitation of a weapon.”

Calkins’ proposed law would also require courts to “consider the reasons for detaining the person” prior to determining how much credit an offender should receive for time spent in custody prior to sentencing.

Private members’ bills such as C-289 rarely become law in Canada but are believed to have better chances for passage during periods of minority government such as in the current Liberal-led Commons.

Between 2018 and 2019 a parliamentary committee studied the issue of rural crime in Canada. Produced by MPs from each of the country’s major parties, it found crime in rural areas was a “growing concern.”

The majority of witnesses who participated in that study were from Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Because policing is primarily a responsibility of provincial governments, MPs recommended provinces increase investments in policing and “innovative solutions” such as emergency dispatch centres.

— D.C. Fraser reports for Glacier FarmMedia from Ottawa.

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