News - February 2009           Previous Month         Following Month

The headlines for current month's news items are listed immediately below. Click on the headline of your choice to see the entire text of the article.

Attack on grain farmers renewed: Agriculture Union issues

news release as Conservatives mount new legislative assault

on the Canadian Grain Commission

Welcome to the Agriculture Union's new 'Instant News' service

Vancouver members mark Chinese New Year in true (Scottish?!) style

Attack on grain farmers renewed: Agriculture Union issues news release as Conservatives mount new legislative assault on the Canadian Grain Commission

(Posted February 24, 2009)

A news release issued today by National President Bob Kingston has attacked the Harper government for once again placing legislation amending the Canada Grain Act before the House of Commons.

Bill C-13 is a carbon copy of Bill C-39, widely-criticized legislation proposed by the Conservatives before last autumn's election. Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz was forced to put Bill C-39 on the back bruner after a concerted camapign by our union, farm groups and opposition political parties.

As was the case with its predecessor, Bill C-13 panders to the powerful private interests that control the grain industry, and a minority of farmers opposed to ‘government regulation’ who wish to sell privately into commodity markets.

The full text of the our news release can be read HERE.

Welcome to the Agriculture Union's new 'Instant News' service

(Posted February 9, 2009)

In the latest enhancement to our Web site, the Agriculture Union is now pleased to offer members the opportunity to subscribe to our Instant News service.

This new service is what is referred to as a 'RSS feed'. The initials stand for ‘Really Simple Syndication’. Once you subscribe, news items that are posted on our Web site will be sent automatically to the in box of your e-mail program.

In theory, subscription is simple. Just clicking on the Agriculture Union Instant News logo should add you to your RSS news reader. However…

The Web browser available to many federal government workers for Internet access is Microsoft Internet Explorer 6. Unfortunately, IE 6 does not have a built-in RSS reader, as IE 6 was developed before RSS technology came to the fore.

On the other hand, Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 and various variants of the Firefox Web browser have built-in RSS readers, requiring nothing other than clicking on the Agriculture Union Web site icons for the Instant News service.

Easy download access to these newer browsers, and more information on working around the employer's technical shortcomings, can be found on our Instant News subscription page. Just click on the logo at the top of the column to the right.

After all, we don't want any of you to miss out on all the latest news!

Vancouver members mark Chinese New Year in true (Scottish?!) style

(Posted February 5, 2009)

Haggis at a Chinese New Year’s eve banquet? You bet!

The Scottish…uh…delicacy was being served up at the ‘Gung Haggis Fat Choy Robbie Burns and Chinese New Year's Eve Dinner’ in Vancouver on January 25. The annual event is organized by Todd Wong – a fifth-generation Chinese-Canadian, librarian and member of the Canadian Union of Public Employees – as a fun way to recognize the pioneering role played by the two cultural communities.

Todd (or, ‘Toddish McWong’ as he is known while hosting the festivities) also sees it as a way for the two communities to rub shoulders, and for union members to mingle with the broader community.

So, we’re pleased to say that the Agriculture Union was represented by a table of members at this year’s dinner, which drew more than 500 people. Some of those members can be seen toasting the New Year in the photo below. Another labour-sponsored table, with other BC PSAC members, was just behind our own.
Photo of Agriculture Union members with Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson

The photo above shows a few Agriculture Union members with Gregor Robertson, Vancouver’s new progressive Mayor and proud Scotsman (note the dress kilt). Speaking of finery, members Jennie Chu and Terri Lee can also be seen in traditional Chinese jackets,

Historically, Chinese New Year is a 15-day celebration beginning with the first new moon of the New Year and ending with a Lantern Festival on the night of the full moon. For Chinese around the world, this is the ‘Year of the Ox’. And the year isn’t 2009, but rather 4707 on the Chinese calendar.

So, if a few bars of ‘Auld Lang Syne’ could be heard over cries of Gung Hay Fat Choy (Cantonese) or Xin Nian Kuai Le (Mandarin), that just speaks to the cosmopolitan multiculturalism of the city our Vancouver members are proud to call home.