Tukevics appointed to Food Terminal board

Len Turkevics of Toronto has been appointed to a three-year term on the board of the Ontario Food Terminal.

He is a former employee of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and owns Turkevics & Associates.

He also served as a researcher for the Progressive Conservative party.

                           

CFIA releases survey results

Fifty-two per cent of 350 responders to a survey said it’s difficult to find information from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

Seventy-nine per cent said they were not aware of the CFIA’s policies on openness and transparency.

The survey results are posted on the CFIA website at inspection.gc.ca .

Fertilizer company fined $102,500

A subsidiary of CF Industries has been fined $90,000 plus a $22,500 victim surcharge fee for an ammonia leak in Lambton County.

Terra International, a producer of urea and ammonia products in St. Clair Township, faced one charge of violating the Environmental Protection Act in connection with an ammonia gas release that took place in August 2016. 

The incident was first reported to authorities on August 11, 2016, but it’s not clear when the leak began. 

According to the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks, the company reported an ammonia gas release to their Spills Action Centre.

More than 8.5 tonnes of liquid ammonia was released and contained, resulting in a release of 997 kg of ammonia gas into the air over a two-hour period.

When Terra International, which is owned by CF Industries, searched for the source, it found a fault in an ammonia pump and that led to the failure of a vent pipe that contained liquid ammonia.

                           

Sweda sues lawyer Donald Good

Sweda Farms Ltd. has sued lawyer Donald Good and his associates and companies for $30 million, claiming negligence in the lawsuit Sweda filed against Burnbrae Farms Ltd., L.H. Gray and Sons Ltd. and the Egg Farmers of Ontario marketing board.

Burnbrae has persuaded the courts to allow it out of the lawsuit.

Sweda learned that Good and his associates failed to conduct examinations for discovery against Burnbrae and failed to file a court request that Burnbrae provide its documents that pertained to the case.

In February, 2014, Justice David Corbett ruled that Good, acting for Sweda, failed miserably. He wrote that:

(a) no single element of any cause of action was made out by the evidence placed before the court; 

(b) the materials and evidence were not organized and analysed to make it clear what evidence Sweda had in respect of each of the allegations; 

(c) the pursuit of production from Burnbrae was less than diligent; 

(d) no evidence was filed regarding what documentary disclosure had been requested from Burnbrae and refused; 

(e) Sweda's claims were supported by speculation, arguments presented as evidence, unparticularized assertions, and vague references to isolated pieces of evidence; 

(f) no evidence was put before the court that Sweda had suffered losses or damages or that its damages were caused by Burnbrae's conduct; and 

(g) Sweda failed to put its "best foot forward" and demonstrate evidence on which it could succeed at trial.

The original lawsuit was against Burtnbrae. Gray and the marketing board were added after the marketing board accused Sweda of cheating farmers by failing to pay for all the Grade A eggs they delivered.

It based that claim on the provincial averages for Grade A eggs, but Sweda countered that Burnbrae, Gray and the egg board conspired to inflate the percentage of Grade A eggs they processed. 

Since Gray and Burnbrae accounted for about 90 per cent of the eggs graded in Ontario, their grading formed the provincial average.

Subsequent Access-to-Information requests have substantiated that five per cent or more of the eggs handled by Burnbrae and Gray failed to meet the Grade A standards they claim and that this situation persisted before and after Sweda’s lawsuit.

The lawsuit has yet to reach court. 

Burnbrae, Gray and the egg board deny any wrongdoing.

Luke Van Aert, an organic egg producer, sued Sweda and lawyers acting for Sweda agreed to pay $164,560.93.

Sweda claims it was never informed that the lawsuit was scheduled to be heard in a court in London, did not know about the lawyers’ agreement to pay Van Aert the money and that Good recommended that Van Aert be added to the Burnbrae-Gray-egg board lawsuit, but failed to pursue it.

Sweda’s lawsuit against Van Aert focuses on two other lawyers, in a joint practice with Good – Robert Morrow and Lise Lemieux.

The lawsuit seeks $30 million which is the same amount cited in the lawsuit against Burnbrae and Gray and the egg board.

There is a treasure trove of e-mails related to the lawsuit, illustrating business links between Burnbrae and Gray, including sharing information when Burnbrae was negotiating the purchase of Sweda’s Best Choice Eggs business. The e-mails are being held in custody by a court-appointed lawyer in Kitchener-Waterloo.

                           

Greydanus named to tribunal

Christine Greydanus of Petrolia has been given a two-year appointment as a vice-chair of the OMAFRA Appeals Tribunal.

She is a lawyer and owner of Greydanus Plains Poultry Ltd. and chief executive officer of Enniskillen Pepper Co.

Two others have been added for one-year terms on the Livestock Medicines Advisory Committee.

They are Ian Ross of Cambridge and Elise Tatone of Ottawa.

CFIA frustrates vegan cheese marketers

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has told Blue Heron that it can’t label products “vegan cheese” at its shop in Vancouver.

The company has protested that the CFIA allows others to market “plant-based” and “dairy-free” vegan cheese.

The Globe and Mail reports that “the labelling of vegan products has been a growing issue for non-dairy producers, who are confused about the regulations, uncertain as to what words they can use and concerned by apparent discrepancies in a system where enforcement is initiated by anonymous complaints.”

Dairy Farmers of Canada might be behind complaints about :"vegan cheese" and said it wants the regulations enforced.

It doesn't look fair for millionaire dairy farmers to use lawyers and professional lobbying to frustrate tiny shop owners.

Karen McAthy, owner of Blue Heron, said she wants clear instructions so she can finish a new label design.

She said her discussions with the CFIA officer have been amicable, frustrating and his replies “opaque,” reports the Globe and Mail.

Lynda Turner, owner of Fauxmagerie Zengarry in Alexandria, Ont., felt the same frustration in 2015, when the CFIA asked her to address, within 30 days, the “cashew cheese” product descriptions on her labels.

When she went back to them with three proposals, they accepted, without explanation, “100 per cent dairy-free cashew cheese.” 

She says she still worries that they will reverse their decision.

“I would like to see the regulations be made clear and the procedures simplified. I would like the CFIA to provide some guidance. 

‘We are all just small businesses and we don’t have the funds for lawyers. It’s very expensive to go through a whole new product design,” she told the Globe and Mail.

She said revamping label designs costs her about $8,000.

The Dairy Farmers of Canada said it sees no need for change or review. 

“The standards of identity for dairy products have served Canadians well for many decades, and should continue to be respected,” said Lucie Boileau, director of communications for DFC.

         

Canada challenges India’s lentil, pea subsidies

Canada has joined the United States in a challenge of India’s support prices for peas and lentils and a number of other crops.

They are set to challenge India’s market price supports for certain pulses including chickpeas and lentils.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said that “together with Canada” they’ve submitted a “counter notification” on the matter to the World Trade Organization (WTO) Committee on Agriculture.

The notice names price supports for chickpeas, lentils, pigeon peas, black matpe and mung beans, the U.S. Trade Representative’s office said in a news release.

Canada and the U.S. say India has set support prices much higher than it reported to the World Trade Organization.

Last year Canada took issue with India’s requirements for fumigation with pesticides banned by Canadian officials.

Canada eventually persuaded India to relent and allow imports to resume.

When it comes to innovation, some countries are quite adept at finding ways to subvert trade.