Chinese canola embargo about quality assurance
(March 23, 2019) This morning CBC is reporting that China stopped all purchases of canola from Canadian sources. In spite of what Harper era diplomats with short memories and some other commentators may say, this is about the customer, in this case China, not getting the product they want. The canola issue is rooted in concerns about dockage and trust that go back almost three years. As...
Read MoreTrudeau’s China agenda damaged by recent history
(December 12, 2017) Over the past months the Canadian media has been filled with stories characterizing trade with China as either a golden opportunity or a blind walk into a totalitarian trap. There is the offensive smell of long standing racism mixed with the patronizing greed that has characterized most western relations with the Middle Kingdom for centuries. In this country we lack a deep...
Read MorePM acts on bad advice about canola
(September 5, 2016) How would you feel if you bought a thousand grams of rice to feed your family and found 25 grams of the bag made up of weed seeds, stems and chaff? What if you complained to the retailer and the leader of China flew in to say your demand for a clean product to feed your family could wait for further discussion? What if the retailer told you that you were scientifically...
Read MoreChina accepts canola – for now
(August 31, 2016) Canadian farmers who supply private trade canola exporters with raw product are breathing a bit easier today because Prime Minister Trudeau was able to leverage his and Canada’s long standing relationship with China to delay the imposition of higher cleanliness standards for canola imported into China. Given the problems of diseases in canola, including club root, Chinese...
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