He replaces Dave MacLellan who has had the two positions since 2013 and now will be executive chair of the board of directors and will serve as a strategic advisor to Sikes.
Sikes has been a Cargill executive in Europe and the United States as well as Canada and has been head of the company's talent centre of expertise and is now its chief financial officer.
She is a lawyer specializing in administrative and regulatory law.
As matters stand now, each province and territory has its own building code.
The National Research Council of Canada (NRC) will continue to publish the codes, and provide administrative, technical, and policy support to the code development system.
There has been an advisory committee from the provinces and territories on building codes and this is another step towards harmonization following two years of negotiations. The advisory committee will remain in place.
United States district Judge Virginia M. Kendall said the plaintiffs in the case provided sufficient inference that price-fixing of turkeys took place.
While the defendants submitted what were described as “alternative explanations” for their turkey prices, Judge Kendall also said the standards for potential dismissal are higher for the defendants than those for the plaintiffs in outlining her decision.
The lawsuit accuses Butterball, Cargill Inc., Cooper Farms, Hormel Foods Corp., House of Raeford Inc., Farbest Foods Inc., Foster Farms Inc., Perdue Farms Inc., Prestage Farms and Tyson Foods Inc., of exchanging information on turkey production cutbacks in an effort to inflate prices.
Agri-Stats Inc. is also involved in the lawsuit, as it has been in similar price-fixing complaints in the pork, chicken and beef industries.
The defendants submitted a joint denial against the activities featured in the lawsuit as part of their effort to win a dismissal of the case.
It was last updated in 1989 and has had only minor tweeks since.
“ We recognize that it no longer reflects the realities of modern veterinary practice” said Thompson.
Thompson wants the public to tell her “how to align oversight of the Ontario veterinary profession with other self-governing regulated professions in the province to ensure that the veterinary profession continues to be overseen in the public interest. College president Lorie Gold said it welcomes the review.
She is also inviting input on “the scope of practice for veterinary medicine, such as the procedures, services and processes a licensed veterinarian or other veterinary professional, such as a veterinary technician, is permitted to perform.”
And she wants to learn “how to improve accountability and transparency to make sure that powers, responsibilities, and processes under the Act are clear to the public.“
Details on the proposed changes to the Veterinarians Act are available at www.ontario.ca/page/consultation-veterinarians-act-ontario. The public can share feedback by email at vetact.omafra@ontario.ca to share initial feedback to shape a future proposal for modernizing the framework for the regulation of veterinary professionals in Ontario.
A discussion paper will be posted on the Regulatory Registry for public consultation this winter and then people can provide additional input through the registry at that time.
In 2021, the college held licenses for 5,247 veterinarians and accreditations for 2,405 facilities.
Olymel has announced it will close one of its pork-processing plants in Ste. Hyacinthe, Que., on Feb. 10.
The company said it has faced two years of difficulties caused by the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the labor shortage, market uncertainties and other factors underlying the unfavorable economic situation.
The 107 employees working at the facility in its melting, storage and packaging operations have received a 12-week notice of termination, in accordance with Quebec labor standards. All employees will be offered the opportunity to relocate to other Olymel facilities in the region.
The company announced in 2016 it was discontinuing pork butt boning operations at the St-Hyacinthe facility, resulting in the elimination of 340 jobs.
A federal district court in Minnesota has consolidated the antitrust claims of several large retailers and wholesalers against four beef packers into the lawsuit originally brought by R-CALF USA and the National Farmers Union (NFU).
The plaintiffs, which include Sysco, US Foods, Kroger, Hy-Vee, Albertson, Associated Grocers, Subway and SuperValu, allege the packers’ efforts to jointly manage their slaughter volume and their cattle purchasing practices caused beef prices to rise while also pushing cattle prices lower.