KAP to Call for Withdrawal of Bill 17
CANADA - Keystone Agricultural Producers will be calling for the withdrawal of proposed provincial legislation that will ban further hog industry expansion in much of Manitoba when it appears before a legislative committee reviewing the bill, writes Bruce Cochrane.Proposed amendments to Manitoba's environment act contained in Bill 17 which will impose permanent moratoriums on new or expanded hog barn construction in three regions will go before the Legislative Assembly's Standing Committee on Agriculture and Food beginning tomorrow for final review and public comment before the bill moves to third reading and passage.
Keystone Agricultural Producers is one of well over 400 groups and individuals that have registered to comment on the proposed ban.
KAP vice president Robert McLean says the message his organization plans to bring forward is that the tools are in place to ensure the hog industry is sustainable without the need for an actual ban.
Robert McLean-Keystone Agricultural Producers
The tools are in place.
We've been working with government over the last several years.
There's the nutrient management regulations that have come down, there's manure management regulations, there's rules in place through your municipal act.
These tools are in place to ensure that hog production or any livestock production for that matter is sustainable in Manitoba and there was no need for a total moratorium or a total ban to be put in place.
I think the province or the government of the day right now is doing this for political reasons and they certainly aren't doing it for science reasons.
McLean calls on the province to allow these new environmental regulations to move forward, see how they work and then tweak them as necessary.
The Standing Committee on Agriculture and Food has public hearings scheduled for Friday, Saturday, Monday and Tuesday.
Those wishing to appear before the committee have until the close of business Monday to register by calling 945-3636.