Environmental protection compromised
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/04/2017 (3195 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Re: The editorial “Review Of Pork Industry Wouldn’t Be Hogwash” (April 7) in The Brandon Sun.
I very much doubt the Pallister government or the MPC (Manitoba Pork Council) would even consider such a review. The last one in 2007 (Clean Environment Commission) was watered down and in “lock-step” under the guidance of Stan Struthers, then Conservation and Environment minister.
But at least some vulnerable areas were identified and protected in the Environment Act and the NDP government knew more had to be done to help protect our water sources and Lake Winnipeg. Under the guise of red tape reduction, these gains in protections will be removed in bills now introduced into the legislature.
The bigger manure lagoons now being planned for Manitoba could become our disasters to further plague Manitobans and pollute our water sources, like what has already happened in North Carolina. Each year, North Carolina’s pig factory farms produce nearly 10 billion gallons of feces and urine. That’s enough to fill 15,000 Olympic-size swimming pools. Is this what Manitobans have to look forward to?
This raises more questions. Too few hogs, too many processing plants, or just bad planning?
In 2009, there were too many hogs! Sows were culled and enormous numbers of piglets killed, barns were shut down, and producers were paid by government, with our tax dollars, to go out of business.
The Manitoba Pork Council now claims there is a shortage of hogs to supply both Maple Leaf and the Hylife plants.
The new Pallister Conservative government has sided with the MPC to compromise the environmental protection requirements in the Save Lake Winnipeg Act so production can expand without incurring costs to upgrade existing operations and by lowering standards for new manure storage and treatment facilities. The pork industry says it is not economically feasible to adapt to current requirements and lower standards are sufficient to protect the Lake and Manitoba’s water.
Where is the personal accountability of this industry, that has been sustained with government handouts and environmental subsidies, and lobby to weaken laws to protect the public and our water sources?
It very much seems that Manitoba is on its way to end up like North Carolina where industry financial considerations trump environmental and water protection.
JOHN FEFCHAK
Virden