Agriculture ministers conclude meeting in Calgary with pledge to open markets
CALGARY — A statement from a meeting of Canada’s agriculture ministers pledges to open new markets through trade agreements while protecting the country’s eggs, dairy and poultry from foreign competition.
The ministers concluded two days of meetings in Calgary on Friday with a document outlining goals in developing a new agricultural policy framework, which is set to expire in 2018.
The statement makes a series of wide-reaching commitments that range from a promise to respect the current 60-40 federal-provincial cost-share ratio for funding, to examining how government can help reinforce confidence and public trust in the agriculture sector.
It was Lawrence MacAuley’s first meeting as federal agriculture minister with his provincial and territorial counterparts.