It was clearly evident that half of the members of city council are loath to ruffle the feathers of upper-tier government officials.
This relates to a matter discussed during Monday’s (Dec. 15) council meeting, dealing with the province’s move to consolidate Ontario’s 37 conservation authorities into seven regional authorities.
Under the consolidation, much of southwestern Ontario would fall into the Lake Erie Regional Conservation Authority (see map below), which would cover southwestern Ontario watersheds draining into Lake Erie, including the Thames, Grand, and Sydenham systems, supporting agriculture, industry, and shoreline communities.
Tag Archives: Elgin Federation of Agriculture
‘Vianode’s decision to invest here is a testament to our city’s talent, innovation, and commitment to a sustainable future.’ – St. Thomas Mayor Joe Preston
It has been a banner week for St. Thomas. While Trump’s tariff temper tantrum continues to cast economic uncertainty across the country, the former Railway Capital of Canada is forging ahead as the EV Battery Capital of Canada.Earlier this week, we had confirmation from PowerCo that work was proceeding on a trio of major buildings at the Yarmouth Yards industrial park. Foundation and formwork are underway on the first cell production building within the massive facility.
More on that announcement in the following item.
Meantime, on Friday afternoon (Oct. 31) came the announcement that Norwegian company Vianode, a global leader in sustainable battery materials, will build its first North American facility at Yarmouth Yards in St. Thomas. This multi-billion-dollar investment marks a major step forward for Canada’s clean energy and critical minerals strategy.
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The four federal candidates in Elgin-St. Thomas-London South faced off for the first – and only – time in 2025 election campaign
The final all-candidate debate was held this past Wednesday at the Keystone Complex in Shedden, with all four candidates participating, fielding pre-selected, ag-related questions.The Elgin Federation of Agriculture hosted the event, and moderated by President Greg Fentie in front of a gathering of approximately 100 attendees.
The four candidates are Stephen R. Campbell, People’s Party of Canada; David Goodwin, Liberal Party of Canada; Andrew Lawton, Conservative Party of Canada; and Paul Pighin, New Democratic Party.
The only occasion where all four were together was the meet and greet hosted by the St. Thomas and District Chamber of Commerce at the CASO station in St. Thomas.
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The second EML candidates forum hosted by the Elgin Federation of Agriculture generated plenty of food for thought
As was the case last week with the Chamber of Commerce candidates meeting at the CASO station, only four of the seven individuals seeking to represent Elgin-Middlesex-London at Queen’s Park were on hand this past Wednesday for a similar forum hosted by the Elgin Federation of Agriculture.
A near-capacity crowd filed into the Old Town Hall Theatre in Aylmer for the event.
Rob Flack of the Progressive Conservative Party is looking to win a second term and is being challenged by Doug Mactavish, Liberal Party; Amanda Stark, Green Party; Brian Figueiredo, New Blue Ontario Party; Stephen R. Campbell, None of the Above Party; and Cooper Labrie, Ontario Party.
Amanda Zavitz, the NDP candidate, was not present and announced the following day that she was dropping out of the race. More on that situation is in the item below.
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National food strategy rooted in Elgin
Posted by Ian:
With no clearly defined picture as to what Canada’s agri-industry should look like in the coming decades, the Ontario Federation of Agriculture is taking a lead role in devising a national food strategy. OFA vice-president Mark Wales, who farms near Copenhagen in east Elgin, is a vocal advocate for a clear, defining agricultural template that can be adopted on a national scale.
City Scope conducted a lengthy interview with Mark on March 9 of this year. What follows is the entire unedited version of the phone interview with Mark in Toronto that delved into a national food strategy, a similar undertaking in the U.K., GM foods and other agri-industry topics on the radar.
City Scope: Mark, define for us what has led up to the push for a national food policy.
Mark Wales: There never has been any clear defining, overarching national or even provincial food strategy in this country. Some municipalities, like Vancouver, have a food strategy and I think Manitoba has a bit of one, but those are mainly focused around very local food. But there is nothing overall to say what should Canadian agriculture look like, whom should we be trying to feed, what should we be trying to produce and who should be doing it and under what standards and so on.
There is a myriad of policies but none of them with any overarching vision or strategy. So, that’s what we’re working on here, both in Ontario at the OFA level, and at the national level through the Canadian Federation of Agriculture.
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