Farm Labour Big Concern With COVID-19 Outbreak

Mar 16, 2020

The impact of the COVID-19 outbreak is being felt around the world.

The story is no different for agriculture here at home.

National Farmers Union (NFU) President Katie Ward talked about one of the major impacts of the virus.

"A big concern is going to be the Temporary Foreign Workers Program, and what impact health screening or isolation measures are going to have on that program," she said. "We've started investigating that ourselves in the National Farmers Union and we're hoping to have advice for our members coming up shortly."

Manitoba Pork Chair George Matheson agreed with that sentiment.

"Probably our greatest concern right now is if there were large scale infections of it that might affect the workforce," he said. "Number one for their own health issues and also that work at barns, work at the two major packing plants, and even the smaller packing plants in Manitoba, would be under pressure."

Manitoba Pork has postponed its March 25 AGM until further notice.

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Video: Finding a Balance of Innovation and Regulation - Dr. Peter Facchini

Regulations help markets and industry exist on level playing fields, keeping consumers safe and innovation from going too far. However, incredibly strict regulations can stunt innovation and cause entire industries to wither away. Dr. Peter James Facchini brings his perspective on how existing regulations have slowed the advancement of medical developments within Canada. Given the international concern of opium poppy’s illicit potential, Health Canada must abide by this global policy. But with modern technology pushing the development of many pharmaceuticals to being grown via fermentation, is it time to reconsider the rules?

Dr. Peter James Facchini leads research into the metabolic biochemistry in opium poppy at the University of Calgary. For more than 30 years, his work has contributed to the increased availability of benzylisoquinoline alkaloid biosynthetic genes to assist in the creation of morphine for pharmaceutical use. Dr. Facchini completed his B.Sc. and Ph.D. in Biological Sciences at the University of Toronto before completing Postdoctoral Fellowships in Biochemistry at the University of Kentucky in 1992 & Université de Montréal in 1995.