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“So, today, I’m calling on the prime minister to get back on the job and fight for our canola farmers and the jobs they support. We are calling on Ottawa to stop its navel-gazing about its internal controversies and fight back.”

The premier went on to demand Ottawa “be in Canada’s corner.”

“Alberta farmers and Alberta workers stand to lose hundreds of millions of dollars and up to 3,000 jobs if this is not resolved,” said Notley.

“We need certainty.”

Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau in a Wednesday statement called the issue a top priority for the Canadian government and said she is in talks with provincial partners.

“Our government understands the importance of the canola industry to the Canadian economy,” said Bibeau. “We are taking a science-based approach to finding a solution.”

Some observers are speculating that the block may be the latest swipe against the Canadian government for arresting a top Chinese tech executive.

“We’ve seen a huge drop-off in canola prices, especially over the past couple of weeks,” said Bruce Burnett, director of weather and markets at Glacier FarmMedia.

He called it a major drop for the commodity, which likely wouldn’t have happened without the backdrop of a deteriorating relationship between China and Canada. The fallout follows the arrest of Chinese tech giant Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver on Dec. 1, 2018.

On Dec. 3, the May futures contract, which Burnett noted was not the most actively traded at the time, closed at $496 per tonne. Wednesday afternoon, it was trading at about $456 — a roughly eight per cent drop. It was expected that exports to China would remain strong through most of the crop year, he said, with fairly solid prices.