Letter to Trudeau asks to keep farm safe from hospital development

Apr 21, 2016

Former Agriculture Canada officials write open letter

By Diego Flammini
Assistant Editor, North American Content
Farms.com

An open letter written by former deputy minister of agriculture Gaëtan Lussier and various other former agriculture officials is calling for Prime Minister Trudeau to reconsider giving up part of the Central Experimental Farm for development of the new Civic Hospital.

“We would all like to see a new state-of-the-art health care facility built in Ottawa, but we do not believe that valuable research fields of the Central Experimental Farm need to be sacrificed to achieve this,” the letter reads.

Central Farm Letter Pg 1 Central Farm Letter Pg 2

The Conservative government announced in 2014 it would allow for 60 acres of farmland to be leased to make room for the new hospital across the street from the current facility – including acres which were used in the development of short-season soybeans.

“We have been told that 60 acres is only six per cent of the total area of the Farm. But it is over 10 per cent of the total usable crop area. That’s a significant impact,” reads a 2014 letter by Leslie Maitland, president of Heritage Ottawa.

“Thanks to that work, today this crop is grown from Prince Edward Island to Alberta and contributes $2 billion each year to Canada’s economy, the cost of a new Ottawa Hospital every year,” says the open letter by Mr. Lussier.

A groundswell of concern resulted in the Liberals announcing they will look at other possible locations, but most of them are still situated on the farm.

Video: Sweetener Effects on Gut Health - Dr. Kwangwook Kim

In this episode of The Swine Nutrition Blackbelt Podcast, Dr. Kwangwook Kim, Assistant Professor at Michigan State University, discusses the use of non-nutritive sweeteners in nursery pig diets. He explains how sucralose and neotame influence feed intake, gut health, metabolism, and the frequency of diarrhea compared to antibiotics. The conversation highlights mechanisms beyond palatability, including hormone signaling and nutrient transport. Listen now on all major platforms!

“Receptors responsible for sweet taste are present not only in the mouth but also along the intestinal tract.”

Meet the guest: Dr. Kwangwook Kim / kwangwook-kim is an Assistant Professor at Michigan State University, specializing in swine nutrition and feed additives under disease challenge models. He earned his M.S. and Ph.D. in Animal Sciences from the University of California, Davis, where he focused on intestinal health and metabolic responses in pigs. His research evaluates alternatives to antibiotics, targeting gut health and performance in nursery pigs.