Bill 17, the Environment Amendment Act, proposes a permanent ban on building or expanding hog operations in three regions of Manitoba.

The public comment period wrapped up Thursday and the Legislative Assembly's Agriculture and Food Committee will sit for seven additional days between today and September 5 to consider the public presentations and complete clause-by-clause consideration prior to the bill's introduction for third reading and possible passage in the fall sitting of the legislature.

Manitoba Pork Council Chairman Karl Kynoch says passage of the bill will halt all expansion of hog barns in about two thirds of the production area and will prevent producers from restructuring their operations.

Karl Kynoch-Manitoba Pork Council

A lot of individuals are actually going to lose their livelihoods here.

They'll have to look for other work.

It's going to devalue property.

Even the Hutterite colonies see this as the demise of the colonies if this bill goes through.

There was families presented.

There was even kids that presented.

There was the odd presenter that broke down.

Some of the kids see that there is absolutely no future left for them in agriculture.

Their livelihood has been the hog industry and that.

We even had people that work in the barns from the Philippine community come and present against.

They see some of their jobs disappearing after this Bill 17 goes through and starts the slow demise of the hog industry.

There's a lot of people that have immigrated to this country, they work in the barns and they're enjoying the life here.

They see that starting to disappear on them so it's really concerning.

The bill is scheduled to move to third reading during the fall sitting of the Legislative Assembly.

Kynoch is hopeful, now that all of the presenters have been heard from, that government will take the concerns into consideration and withdraw the bill.

Further Reading

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