Net farm income down in Alberta, across Canada for 2024
Data from Statistics Canada shows total net income for Canadian farmers dropped by about 41 per cent last year. Alberta Canola said higher operating costs and lower crop prices are taking a toll on producers.
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Hamilton Spectator
an hour ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Mark Carney signals ‘the imperative of making Canada an energy superpower' on eve of first ministers' meeting
SASKATOON—Building bridges — and possibly pipelines — while battling barriers. As Prime Minister Mark Carney meets Monday with the premiers, he wants to fast-track 'nation-building' infrastructure projects and eliminate interprovincial trade barriers to strengthen a Canadian economy under attack from U.S. President Donald Trump. 'Partnership is a theme for our discussion this morning,' Carney said Sunday in Calgary at a roundtable with leading figures from the oil and gas industry before the first ministers' meeting. Prime Minister Mark Carney met with oil and gas executives in Calgary to get their input for his plans to make Canada an energy superpower. Carney, in his first visit to Calgary since being sworn in as prime minister, sat down for a closed door roundtable with several representatives of the energy sector. (June 1, 2025 / The Canadian Press) 'It's a critical time for our country. The world's certainly more divided and dangerous and the imperative of making Canada an energy superpower in all respects has never been greater. We will do everything we can at the federal government level to support those partnerships,' he said. In a letter to the prime minister released Sunday, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said her province wants to get its products to market while reducing dependence on the U.S., meaning pipelines to tidewater must be among Carney's nation-building priorities. 'Failure to have an oil pipeline on the initial list will perpetuate current investment uncertainty and send an unwelcome signal to Albertans concerned about Ottawa's commitment to national unity,' warned Smith, referring to the potential for a referendum on secession in Alberta. Ontario Premier Doug Ford — who signed a memorandum of understanding Sunday with Saskatchewan's Scott Moe to remove barriers to trade and labour mobility between the two provinces — said it was 'encouraging' that Carney was in Calgary earlier in the day to meet with energy executives. 'This prime minister is really sending out olive branches across the country. He understands the previous prime minister (Justin Trudeau) totally ignored Alberta, totally ignored Saskatchewan. That was unacceptable,' said Ford. 'Let's get rid of all this regulation and red tape that's prohibiting us from moving forward at a rapid speed, because it all depends on the speed right now,' he said, noting Trump 'wants to annihilate our economy' with tariffs on Canadian products. Prime Minister Mark Carney is huddling with the country's premiers in Saskatoon to find a consensus on what major industrial projects Canada should prioritize and quickly approve. (June 1, 2025 / The Canadian Press) With Carney pledging to lift Ottawa's hurdles to internal trade by Canada Day, just one month from now, Ford stressed Ontario has also inked accords with Alberta, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. 'I'm confident we'll come up with a deal (with Quebec, British Columbia and Newfoundland and Labrador),' he said, pointing out internal trade barriers cost the Canadian economy $200 billion annually and can add 15 per cent to the cost of many goods and services. Quebec Premier François Legault's government tabled a bill Friday to get rid of some interprovincial trade barriers that have limited labour mobility for workers from other parts of Canada. 'What we're doing is sending a signal that Quebec is open to interprovincial trade. If we want to have better access to the Canadian market, we have to accept to open ours,' said Quebec Minister for the Economy Christopher Skeete. But Quebec, which has a shortage of construction workers, plans to keep in place labour barriers in that sector. Saskatchewan's Moe said the leadership change in Ottawa is palpable among the premiers. 'Credit to Prime Minister Carney. He is aware that there's … a feeling of alienation in certain areas of the nation, and Saskatchewan almost certainly would be one of those areas,' he told reporters. 'I would say that it's a reactionary feeling due to the layering of policies that we've seen over the last number of years. That the feeling is, is that it has cost Saskatchewan communities and industries jobs.' To that end, Moe said 'a port-to-port corridor throughout Western Canada … would essentially open up not only the Asian market, but advance our access into the European market as well, for many products.' British Columbia Premier David Eby, who has headed on a trade mission in Asia and will miss the first ministers' meeting, said 'the asks of Alberta are very predictable' in terms of oil and gas. 'Premier Smith has been advocating for this pipeline access for a long time. I'm not surprised that she is continuing to advocate for it,' Eby said Saturday. 'There's no project yet currently — of which I'm aware — and so if finally a project is proposed and financed, whether private or public, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.' Some First Nation leaders and environmentalists have expressed concern about new pipelines at a time when the world is trying to wean itself off of carbon-emitting fuels. Before flying to Saskatoon, Carney announced Marc-André Blanchard, Canada's former ambassador to the United Nations, will be his new chief of staff starting next month, succeeding interim chief Marco Mendicino, who is considering a Toronto mayoral run . He has convened a major summit here for the first time since 1985 to signal to Western Canada that Ottawa is listening to its concerns after a decade of his predecessor's policies that rankled many in Saskatchewan and Alberta. The confab comes as the U.S. president's tariffs aimed at Canada are helping to clear the logjam of interprovincial trade barriers that have left regions competing with one another.
New York Post
2 hours ago
- New York Post
250 million bees unleashed upon northern Washington after truck overturns
LYNDEN, Wash. — Emergency officials have been busy as … well, you know, cleaning up after a commercial truck full of bee hives crashed in northern Washington, unleashing 250 million bees on first responders. The truck overturned on Weidkamp Road around 4 a.m. Friday near Lynden, just south of the Canadian border, according to the Whatcom County Sheriff's Office. A massive response of deputies, public works officials and several bee experts were called to the scene. The 70,000 pounds of honey bee hives on board came off the truck around 9 a.m., unleashing all the bees, deputies said. '250 million bees are now loose,' Whatcom County Sheriff's deputies posted on Facebook. 'AVOID THE AREA due to the potential of bee escape and swarming.' A photo from the scene showed the surreal sight of millions of bees swarming around the wreckage. 'Master beekeepers are on scene, and others are on the way, to assist in re-setting the box hives,' deputies wrote. 'The plan is to allow the bees to re-hive and find their queen bee. That should occur within the next 24-48 hours. The goal is to save as many of the bees as possible.' 4 A truck crash carrying bee hives released 250 million bees in northern Washington state. Whatcom County Sheriff's Office 4 A swarm of bees seen near the crash truck in Lynden. Whatcom County Sheriff's Office The road was expected to remain closed for up to two days, and authorities urged people to stay at least 200 yards from the crash site. 'While there is no general health risk to the public, anyone who is allergic to bee stings or has concerns should check the State Department of Health webpage on bees and wasps,' deputies wrote. There is no word as to what led up to the crash. 4 The truck was carrying 70,000 pounds of honey bee hives. Whatcom County Sheriff's Office 4 Authorities have warned people to avoid the area. Whatcom County Sheriff's Office By late afternoon, crews had made progress cleaning up the mess. 'Thank you to the wonderful community of beekeepers: over two dozen showed up to help ensure the rescue of millions of pollinating honey bees would be as successful as possible,' deputies wrote. 'Hive boxes from the overturned truck were recovered, restored and returned to use. By morning, most bees should have returned to their hives.' This is not the first time Western Washington has dealt with such a bee calamity. In 2015, a truck carrying some 40 million bees was involved in a wreck on Interstate 5 in the northern Seattle suburbs, unleashing a chaotic cloud of angry bees upon commuters and first responders.
Hamilton Spectator
6 hours ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Carney discusses 'partnerships' with oil and gas executives in Calgary
CALGARY - Prime Minister Mark Carney sat down with oil and gas executives in Calgary Sunday to discuss partnerships and to get their input for his plans to make Canada an energy superpower. Carney, in his first visit to Calgary since being sworn in as prime minister, held a closed door roundtable with more than two dozen members of the energy sector. Attendees included Tourmaline Oil CEO Michael Rose, Pathways Alliance President Kendall Dilling, ATCO CEO Nancy Southern, Imperial Oil President John Whelan and Jon McKenzie, president of Cenovus Energy. Reporters were only allowed to hear a few comments from the prime minister before being asked to leave the room at the Harry Hays building. 'Thank you for convening on a Sunday morning and also for what you've all been doing to help build our our economy, build a future,' Carney said. 'I'd like to thank a number of you who wrote directly to me a month or so ago and I felt it would be best to get together and discuss it in much more detail than through an exchange of letters given the importance of the issues.' Thirty-eight CEOs of Canadian energy companies signed a letter congratulating Carney on his April 28 election win and pitching policy measures they say would help the prime minister make good on his promise to build the fastest-growing economy in the G7. That would include scrapping the federal emissions gap on oil and gas producers and repealing industrial carbon pricing to help bolster the industry. The CEOs want an overhaul of the Impact Assessment Act, which sets out the process for assessing major projects, and of the Oil Tanker Moratorium Act, which bans oil tankers carrying more than 12,500 metric tons of crude from stopping along parts of British Columbia's coastline. Carney campaigned on expediting reviews of major energy infrastructure projects. He promised before the election to move forward with a 'one project, one review' approach by recognizing assessments conducted by the provinces and territories. The federal government unveiled its proposed emissions cap regulations late last year. They would compel upstream oil and gas operations to reduce emissions to 35 per cent below where they were in 2019 by sometime between 2030 and 2032. 'Partnership is a theme for our discussion this morning,' Carney said, accompanied by Energy Minister Tim Hodgson, Dominic LeBlanc, the minister responsible for Canada and U.S. trade and Emergency Management Minister Eleanor Olszewski. 'It's a critical time for our country. The world's certainly more divided and dangerous and the imperative of making Canada an energy superpower in all respects has never been greater. We will do everything we can at the federal government level to support those partnerships.' Alberta Premier Danielle Smith was asked on her weekend radio show if she was concerned that the federal throne speech didn't include a mention of pipelines. 'He may not have said the words 'oil and gas' and he may not have said the word 'pipeline,' but conventional energy means oil and gas, and the only way to get it to market efficiently is through pipelines,' said Smith, who says she's hoping for a one-on-one with Carney at Monday's First Ministers conference in Saskatoon. Smith also praised Carney for being more willing to engage with the premiers on issues of national importance than his predecessor Justin Trudeau. She was coy when asked about consequences if Carney doesn't deliver, saying she prefers to be optimistic. Carney also took a moment on Sunday to thank the Department of National Defence, the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, and volunteers involved in fighting extensive wildfires and co-ordinating large-scale evacuations. 'The good news is those are proceeding well at this stage but of course it's not over until it's over and we're at the start of the forest fire season across the country,' he said. 'So we'll stay committed to doing everything that we can with partners.' _With files from Rob Drinkwater in Edmonton This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 1, 2025.
