NFU Hosts 50th Annual Convention In Winnipeg

The National Farmers Union (NFU) held its 50th Annual Convention this week in Winnipeg at the Canad Inns Polo Park.

 

The theme this year was Farmers on the Front Line: Celebrating 50 Years Of The Farm Movement Katie Ward of Ontario was acclaimed as NFU President.

 

katie ward small NFU President Katie Ward

 

"We had some great looks back at our roots and some inter-generational knowledge sharing," she said. "We have so many young members here and young families. Reconnecting across those generations about the fights that we've engaged in and the way that the NFU has always stood for fairness and re-energizing folks for looking at the next 50 years."

 

Ward notes the general farm organization is currently focused on a number of key issues.

 

"The biggest one that we're talking about is climate change," she explained. "We have a lot of young farmers here this week and they're really focused on what that's going to do. The land access for young farmers, prices are constantly an issue, market access and increasing more local food infrastructure so that we can look at that value added component and try to keep more food dollars on the farm."

 

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.