Latest news with #LaurenMartin
Toronto Star
25-06-2025
- Business
- Toronto Star
Meat producers warn internal trade bill could cause blowback with trade partners
OTTAWA - The Canadian Meat Council is warning that the Liberal government's legislation to ease the movement of goods and services within Canada could actually undermine red meat exports. Lauren Martin — senior director of public affairs for the council, which represents the federally licensed meat industry — said the bill could lead the federal government to recognize provincial rules for inspecting meat processing facilities as equal to federal standards.
Global News
24-06-2025
- Business
- Global News
Internal trade bill could undermine rules for meat exports, industry warns
The Canadian Meat Council is warning that the Liberal government's legislation to ease the movement of goods and services within Canada could actually undermine red meat exports. Lauren Martin — senior director of public affairs for the council, which represents the federally licensed meat industry — said the bill could lead the federal government to recognize provincial rules for inspecting meat processing facilities as equal to federal standards. 'The way it's currently written is that it deems all provincial standards as equivalent to federal standards for the purposes of removing interprovincial trade barriers,' she said. 'The fact that C-5 deems the provincial inspection system as equivalent to the federal inspection system is a big red flag for us because they're not equivalent.' Meat processing rules are different across the country and only federally licensed facilities can prepare product for interprovincial and international trade. Story continues below advertisement Martin said the vast majority of meat products in Canada are processed through the federal inspection system, while about five per cent is processed under provincial rules. While many of the rules are extremely technical in nature, one big difference between federal and provincial regulations is that federally licensed facilities must always have federal inspectors present. 1:46 Can the Liberal government's trade bill unify Canada's economy? The council warns any suggestion that food safety standards are being watered down could be viewed with alarm by Canada's trading partners — and Canada's red meat industry is heavily export-dependent. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy 'That is a way in which we could jeopardize our international trade relationships,' she said. A position paper produced by the council suggests that audits by foreign trading partners would 'not accept the level of food safety scrutiny at provincial plants.' It warns this could 'risk our access to international markets, including the U.S.' Story continues below advertisement Canada is a net exporter of beef and pork. Canada sends more than half of its beef abroad and as much as 70 per cent of its pork, Martin said. Industry anxiety over the bill comes as Canada faces down both a trade war with the U.S. and China's 25 per cent tariffs on pork — retaliation for 100 per cent tariffs Canada placed on Chinese electric vehicles last year. 'With two of our major global customers, we have a trade friction, trade issues, trade barriers. It's a really challenging time for the red meat industry,' Martin said. Health groups also warn that the legislation could lead to unintended consequences from provincial rules displacing federal ones for products such as asbestos and tobacco. But Internal Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland's office said the federal government doesn't intend to dispense with any regulations if it would lead to serious health and safety concerns. 'Free trade within Canada is about Canadians trusting each other. If a steak is safe to eat in Calgary, we should be confident that the same steak would be safe to eat in Saskatoon,' said spokesperson Laura Scaffidi. 'Where it is deemed there are serious health and safety concerns for Canadians, the government of Canada can keep those federal regulations in place.' Story continues below advertisement 2:56 Carney's government tables 'One Canadian Economy' bill to eliminate internal trade barriers Since the legislation provides an overall framework to reduce red tape, those details will have to be sorted out when bureaucrats draft regulations for the new law — a process that also triggers consultations. Franco Naccarato, executive director of Meat & Poultry Ontario, has pushed for decades to break down interprovincial rules in Canadian agriculture. He said he sees opportunities in the new legislation to give consumers access to more domestic meat products. 'There should be some standard that provincial plants demonstrate that they're meeting the same outcomes as the federal plants, and if they can do that … then they should be able to trade across provinces,' he said. 'There are other jurisdictions that have two-tier systems and manage it quite well. There's no reason we can't do that in Canada.' Story continues below advertisement Al Mussell is a senior research fellow at the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute who authored a paper on the subject. He said that a broader interprovincial meat trade could be managed through standards for critical health and safety control points in facilities. He said some of Canada's international trading partners have also devolved some of their agricultural rules to lower levels of government. He cautioned, however, that Ottawa should be careful about adjusting those rules. 'This kind of thing is going on elsewhere, but of course because we have such a strong exporting interest, we have to be very careful that other countries don't get the impression that the provinces have some sort of a different treatment,' he said. The House of Commons has passed the bill, which was introduced just a few weeks ago, and the Senate has until Friday to hold a final vote on the legislation.
Winnipeg Free Press
24-06-2025
- Business
- Winnipeg Free Press
Meat producers warn internal trade bill could cause blowback with trade partners
OTTAWA – The Canadian Meat Council is warning that the Liberal government's legislation to ease the movement of goods and services within Canada could actually undermine red meat exports. Lauren Martin, senior director of public affairs for the organization, says the bill is raising questions about whether it could lead the federal government to recognize provincial rules for inspecting meat processing facilities as equal to federal standards. The group warns that any suggestion that food safety standards are being watered down could be viewed with alarm by Canada's trading partners — a big problem, since Canada's red meat industry is heavily export-dependent. Health groups have warned about something similar — the possibility that the legislation could lead to provincial rules displacing federal ones for products such as asbestos and tobacco. Internal Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland's office insists the federal government doesn't intend to dispense with regulations in a way that could lead to serious health and safety concerns — something Ottawa will have to sort out through in the regulatory process once the bill is passed. The House of Commons already has passed the bill and the Senate has until Friday to hold a final vote on the legislation. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 24, 2025.
Bloomberg
27-05-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
How to Protect Your Rooftop Solar Panels From Hail Damage
As the US heads into peak hailstorm season, homeowners that have installed solar power face the prospect of chunks of ice damaging their panels. 'Those instances of damage are rare, but the more extreme weather gets with climate change, it's hard to know what the future brings,' says Lauren Martin, head of marketing at Freedom Solar Power, a Texas-based solar installer. Last year, the company was called in to repair about a dozen solar systems in Austin pummeled by baseball-sized hail. Hail caused more economic losses for solar-panel owners than any other hazard, according to the latest data available from GCube Insurance, an underwriter that insures more than 100 gigawatts of renewable energy assets worldwide. While less than 2% of the total claims the company recorded from 2018 to 2023 had to do with hail, they accounted for more than half of insured damage associated with solar projects. Hailstorms can happen in any part of the US, but they most commonly occur in the central and southern plains states, stretching from Texas to the Dakotas, a region known as 'Hail Alley.' Part of that overlaps with areas that have seen substantial growth in solar installation. Take Texas. Its residential solar adoption increased nearly 650% from 2017 to 2022, according to a report published last year by Frontier Group and Environment Texas Research and Policy Center. Here's what you need to know about protecting your rooftop solar systems from hail damage. Today, solar panels are able to withstand the impact of hailstones roughly the size of a quarter coin (1 inch in diameter) at the speed of 50 miles per hour — as long as you purchase the right products. Consider shopping for solar panels with a UL 61730 rating, says Evelyn Butler, vice president of technical services at Solar Energy Industries Association, a trade group. The rating, provided by Illinois-based safety-standard company UL Solutions, signals the panels passed hail testing, she says. Other organizations such as the International Electrotechnical Commission also issue their version of safety standards for solar panels that can operate in rough weather. As soon as you decide to install solar panels, inform your insurance company, says Jason Kaminsky, chief executive officer of kWh Analytics, a firm that specializes in risk analytics for renewable-energy projects. Many carriers will extend homeowners insurance to include the solar equipment, he says. If your panels are mounted on the ground rather than attached to the house structure, confirm with your carrier if the system is eligible for homeowners' insurance or if you need to purchase an add-on. Homeowners who get their solar panels through a lease or a Power Purchase Agreement should check with their equipment provider to clarify who will insure the solar system, Kaminsky says. Typically, the equipment provider is responsible for that.
