Hydro transmission lines proposed

 

The provincial government has posted three notices of its intention to approve upgrades in electricity transmission lines.

They are in Windsor-Lakeshore, Bowmanville to Toronto and the Greenstone transmission line in Northern Ontario.

Pork price-fixing cost $64 million

Judge John Tunheim of the U.S. District Court in Minnesota has approved $64 million in settlements for pork price-fixing.

He said the agreements are “fair, reasonable, and adequate,” citing extensive negotiations and years of litigation. 

Tyson Foods will pay $50 million, Clemens Group $10 million and Triumph Foods $4 million, all in U.S. dollars.

In Canadian dollars, the total is more than $88 million.

This settles only one of a number of lawsuits over pork price-fixing.

Pistachio & Knafeh Milk Chocolates are on recall because they might be contaminated with food-poisoning salmonella bacteria.

They were distributed in Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia and sold online.

The English versions are Chocolate Flavours, Dubai and Vincent Selection pistachio and knafeh milk chocolates.

A food-poisoning outbreak led the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to test the products.

Pistachios have been implicated in product recalls back to December,

Agritourism Ontario partners with safety association

Agritourism Ontario is partnering with Workplace Safety & Prevention Services to educate employees, share information and oollaborate on events  and resource distribution.

Agritourism Ontario said it shares the goal of fostering a safer environment in its sector.

“The agritourism industry blends hospitality with agriculture, creating unique safety considerations for both workers and visitors,” said Kevin Vallier, chief executive officer for Agritourism Ontario.

“By working with WSPS, we’re equipping our members with the tools and knowledge they need to create safer experiences for everyone on the farm.” he said.

WSPS is a not-for-profit organization that serves more than 174,000 member firms and 4.2 million workers.

Canola industry calls for help

 The Canola Council of Canada is asking the federal government to limit imports of used vegetable oils as a way to help the Canadian industry.

This week China imposed a 75.8-per-cent tariff on Canadian canola seed, adding to its 100 per cent tariff on Canadian canola oil imposed in March.

After a one-year anti-dumping probe. China’s Ministry of Commerce argued that Canada’s canola sector has benefited from extensive government subsidies and preferential policies that distort markets. 

In 2024, 23 per cent of the feedstock used to create a key clean fuel – renewable diesel – was used cooking oil.

The used oil is classified as less carbon-intensive under Canada’s clean-fuel regulations than canola oil, driving producers to use the feedstock. 

Investigations from the United States and European Union suggest used cooking oil – largely sourced from Asia – might contain palm oil, a product tied to deforestation. 

Ottawa therefore needs to rethink how it treats imports of used vegetable oil, said Chris Davison, president and chief executive officer of the Canola Council of Canada. 

The timing has rarely been more pressing, said Chris Vervaet, executive director at the Canadian Oilseed Processors Association. 

A policy to curb imports of used cooking oil so canola seed could capture just half of the market would use 2.5 million tonnes of canola seed, 42 per cent of the total volume exported to China in 2024. 

“Used vegetable oil is really eating the lunch of the canola industry,” Mr. Vervaet said. “But we can be the masters of our own destiny.” 

The Clean Fuel Regulations came into force in 2023 and have driven substantial investment in the canola industry, Mr. Vervaet said.

There has been a boom in canola processing capacity since 2021. Richardson International Ltd., Cargill and Louis Dreyfus Co. have invested approximately $ 2 billion in canola crushing.

By 2026, Canada will have the crush capacity to process 75 per cent of the canola crop grown in the country, he said. The three newest plants alone will have the ability to process 3.5 million tonnes of canola seed, he said. 

Mon Père camembert under recall

Mon Père brand camembert is under recall because it might be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes food-poisoning bacteria.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said “this recall was triggered by a recall in another country.

“There have been no reported illnesses associated with the consumption of this product in Canada.

                           

HPAI vaccine research side-swiped

 

The $500 million cut in United States vaccine research may side-swipe research on a vaccine to counter highly-pathogenic avian influenza that has resulted in the culling of millions of chickens and a spike in egg prices.

Officials are not yet entirely certain if the bird flu vaccine project has been cut, but Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary of Health and Human Services, has  announced that mRNA vaccine development activities under the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) will “wind down,” immediately terminating 22 mRNA vaccine development programs.

Meanwhile, the poultry industry in Europe has begun to use vaccines to stop the spread of the deadly virus.

There are mixed opinions about whether a vaccine should replace flock culling to stop the disease from spreading in the Canadian and U.S. poultry industries.

Birds that have been vaccinated are difficult to distinguish from birds sick with the virus, so export markets might be lost if vaccination is permitted.