Hog farmers in Manitoba have won a reprieve as the government’s contentious Bill 17, the ban on hog barn expansion, has been deferred to the fall session of the legislature.
“I think they (the government) finally realized that this (bill) is affecting producers’ lives more than they thought,” said Karl Kynoch, chair of the Manitoba Pork Council.
“I would say seeing them push the bill off until fall is a positive thing.”
Bill 17 would prohibit the expansion of hog barns in three regions of the province – the southeast, the Red River Valley and the Interlake. The legislation’s intent is to reduce the nutrients flowing into Lake Winnipeg from hog operations in the province.
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Last week, the governing New Democrats and the official opposition, the Progressive Conservatives, agreed there was not enough time to pass the bill in the spring session of the legislature, which ends June 12.
However, the government did begin committee hearings June 6 for Bill 17, in an effort to work through the 426 people, mostly farmers, who had signed up to make a presentation.
Kynoch, who led off the hearings, said the committee sat for two 14-hour days, but had only heard from 100 presenters by June 9.
He doubted they would be able to get through all the presenters before the end of the legislative session.
The committee was scheduled to shut down the evening of June 10.
The government intends to reconvene the legislative committee for an additional seven days over the summer to accommodate the remaining presenters.
Dates for those hearings have not been determined.
