Churchill rail restored

But the port only has half of its life back (November 1, 2018)  Today’s announcement by the Prime Minister that the 1,000 km. Churchill rail line is restored and will soon be in operation is very good news for the people of the Town of Churchill and the many communities along that line who depended on it for supplies and transportation. It is also good news for Canadian northern sovereignty in...

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Same old from Alberta Wheat Commission

(June 28, 2018)  Few things are more predicable than the creatures of the Government of Alberta making grand plans to take grain trade regulation away from the public interest and give it to the corporate sector. This all stems from the long-standing Alberta government policy of doing everything it can to provide cheap grain for cattle feeding and other grain processors in Alberta.  In a...

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Harper legacy kills another premium wheat market

(June 15, 2018)  Japan has announced the (hopefully temporary) suspension of wheat purchases.  The suspension followed quickly after the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s announcement yesterday of the discovery of genetically modified glyphosate-resistant wheat in southern Alberta. Japan was always one of our Canadian Wheat Board’s customers willing to pay premium prices for quality-assured...

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Don’t blame the trains

(May 8, 2018)  Prairie grain farmers live and die by the prices and delivery opportunities for their grain.  On both counts farmers have a strong sense of being short changed.  When the price looks good and the basis is low, the elevator is often plugged.  When the basis is high making the offered price lower, the elevator has space for deliveries. This smells like the bad old days when...

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Ag dwarfs oil

(April 19, 2018)  It was Friday the 13th and on CBC Calgary’s Eye-Opener its business commentator reported that Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil company had a net income of US $33.8 billion in the first six months of the year on a cash flow of US $52 billion.  It sounded like he was about to go into rapture right on the air.  But hey, the show was coming from Calgary, Alberta where...

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