Mazier Elected To Fourth Term As KAP President

Jan 25, 2018

Keystone Agricultural Producers' 2018 Annual General Meeting is taking place this week in Winnipeg.

President Dan Mazier was re-elected to a fourth term, while Jill Verwey and Bill Campbell will serve as vice-presidents.

In his opening address, Mazier talked about the group's fight against proposed Manitoba Hydro rate hikes.

``We didn`t create this problem," he said. "I don't think it's fair to go back to the rate payers, especially the wage earners and the people that the small and medium businesses that actually make the economy work in Manitoba and say 'you're going to bare the same cost as other industries and other big users'."

The farm lobby group`s membership was up again in 2017, growing to 4757.

The 2018 AGM wraps up on Thursday.

Source : Steinbachonline

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.