Policy: 2023
Supporting the rights of temporary and migrant workers
The National Farmers Union (NFU) appreciates the opportunity to provide a written submission to inform this committee’s study on Canada’s temporary and migrant labour force. The NFU is in a
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Annual Regulatory Modernization Bill Consultation
Our fundamental concern is that Incorporation by Reference (IBR) separates law-making from democratic oversight by Parliament. The authority to use IBR transfers power to create and amend regulations from elected representatives to unelected bureaucrats who are not directly accountable to voters. Combined with a regulatory policy that gives privileged access to corporations, the proposed use of IBR for internally-generated documents enables, encourages, and may even institutionalize the influence of lobbyist working on behalf of regulated parties over public regulators who should be working for the broader public interest. This unacceptably widens the gap between those responsible to the public and those making the laws that govern the public.
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Aggregate Data on Farmgate and Retail Food Prices
National Farmers Union’s Submission to House of Commons Standing Committee Canadians have been struggling to afford groceries. Many farmers have been struggling to make a living. Food retailers and processors, however,
Read MoreThe Competition Act as a Tool for Democracy – Fairness for Farmers
The Competition Act can be a powerful tool for balancing the Canadian economy by tempering the positive feedback loops that lead to ever larger, more powerful corporations concentrating wealth and shaping ever larger parts of the economy through their ability to set the terms of commerce as a result of their dominance within the market. The Competition Act needs to be designed as a tool for democracy, to ensure Canadians have a diversity of meaningful and accessible ways to participate in society as producers, workers, and small business owners.
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NFU submission on Proposed Special Review Decision of Atrazine
The National Farmers Union submitted the following brief to the Pest Management Regulatory Agency’s public consultation on its Proposed Special Review Decision of Atrazine and Its Associated End-use Products The
Read MoreNFU submission on BILL C-282 – An Act to amend the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Act (supply management)
Trade agreement negotiations are done behind closed doors, thus, it is critical that ground rules to uphold our supply management system are set now by our elected representatives voting openly in Parliament. The NFU therefore recommends that Bill C-282 be passed without amendment as a matter of national interest.
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Seed Regulatory Modernization – What’s it all about?
Much of Canadian farmers' success results from over a century of operating within a seed regulatory system that was designed to promote quality crops, prevent serious disease problems, and protect farmers from fraud. While there have been some changes to these regulations over the years, the basic purpose and structure of our seed regulations has remained constant over the entire lifetimes of today’s farmers. Our regulations have served us well, but if big seed corporations have their way, all this will change. The federal government’s Seed Regulatory Modernization process currently underway is a critical crossroads where global corporations seeking to control Canada’s seed for their own benefit are challenging our public interest-based seed regulatory framework.
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