Manitoba Pork Producers Seek $130 Million to Deal With Financial Crisis

Winnipeg Free Press
WINNIPEG - A Manitoba farm group is calling for $130 million in government loan guarantees to help producers deal with what it calls the worst crisis in the history of Canada's pork industry. Details here.

Head Stuck in the Tar Sands

Agrarian Magazine

Shutting down Canada’s prized Experimental Lakes Area (ELA) is the latest atrocity in Harper Government’s war on evironmental science - by James Beddome
Please help us persuade the Government of Canada to reverse the decision to close Canada’s Experimental Lakes Area by signing the
 Public Petition to Save ELA!


ELA photo by CBC News

Canada to Stop Defending Asbestos, Striking Blow to Once-Mighty Industry

Brandon Sun
MONTREAL - The federal government has tossed in the towel and will stop fighting international efforts to list asbestos as a dangerous substance, striking another blow to a once-mighty Canadian industry now on the verge of extinction. Full story here.

Please also read: "The New Harper Government Sharpens its Claws on 'The Enemy'"
 

Petitioning Cosmetic Pesticide Ban Manitoba - Please Sign

Cosmetic pesticides are those chemicals used merely to maintain an appearance of a lawn or garden. Their purpose is not to protect public health or prevent invasive species from spreading, which makes exposure to these chemicals an unnecessary risk. Sign here.

Pipeline Opponents Plan Mass Sit-in at B.C. Legislature

CBC News

Opponents of the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline are organizing what they're calling the largest act of peaceful civil disobedience on the oil sands issue in Canada. Full story here.

The Great Bear Rainforest which the pipeline would cross.

Pork Council Must Focus More on Farmers' Needs

14/04/2012 1:00 AM |     Brandon Sun - PRINT EDITION

Maple Leaf and government policy is to blame for the continued loss of hog producers and a risk to “thousands of jobs” at the Brandon slaughter plant.

Manitoba Pork Council general manager Andrew Dickson would have us believe that the province-wide hog production ban and new manure treatment regulations are the culprits.

Does Dickson forget that the loss of most independent hog farmers started when the Maple Leaf, Hy-Tek and Puratone corporations set up their pyramid scheme-like operations and the conservative Filmon government removed single-desk marketing protection in the late 1990s? Well before a moratorium and phosphorus regulation was put in place.
Further details here.

Himalayan Glaciers Retreating in Some Regions but Not Others

Planetsave

The consequences for the Himalayan water supply depend heavily on the region’s thousands of glaciers… Full story here.

Photo courtesy of MailOnline