Minister Bibeau announces appointment to Canadian Dairy Commission

Jul 06, 2022

OTTAWA, ON, The Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, today announced that Benoit Basillais has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Dairy Commission (CDC), replacing Serge Riendeau.

Mr. Basillais began his career with the CDC as an economist in 2003. He has held various leadership positions with the CDC, and was named Director of Policy and Economics in 2016. He brings to the position of CEO extensive experience with both the CDC and the sector.

Mr. Riendeau was first appointed as CEO of the CDC in 2018. As CEO, he has worked to improve collaboration between segments of the dairy supply chain, and supported the modernization of supply management.

The CEO will deliver on the CDC's annual plan, and will contribute to delivering on the priorities outlined in the CDC's mandate letter. The mandate letter recognizes the importance of a vibrant and sustainable dairy sector to Canada's economy, as well as the importance of dairy supply management for rural communities and farm families across the country. The mandate letter calls on the CDC to continue to advance the Government of Canada's ambitious environmental commitments and support climate resiliency. It also outlines priorities in the areas of transparency, innovation, international trade, engagement, and inclusivity.

In 2016, the Government of Canada implemented an open, transparent and merit-based process for selecting Governor in Council appointees. Appointees play a fundamental role in Canada's democracy by serving on commissions, boards, Crown corporations, agencies and tribunals across the country.

Source : Newswire.ca

Video: Cleaning Sheep Barns & Setting Up Chutes

Indoor sheep farming in winter at pre-lambing time requires that, at Ewetopia Farms, we need to clean out the barns and manure in order to keep the sheep pens clean, dry and fresh for the pregnant ewes to stay healthy while indoors in confinement. In today’s vlog, we put fresh bedding into all of the barns and we remove manure from the first groups of ewes due to lamb so that they are all ready for lambs being born in the next few days. Also, in preparation for lambing, we moved one of the sorting chutes to the Coveralls with the replacement ewe lambs. This allows us to do sorting and vaccines more easily with them while the barnyard is snow covered and hard to move sheep safely around in. Additionally, it frees up space for the second groups of pregnant ewes where the chute was initially.