WEST HAWK LAKE, Man. – The Trans-Canada Highway runs through this craggy, pine-covered land like a long, thin blood vein.It allows only a trickle of traffic to flow from one half of the country to the other.And that’s why it has become the natural place for government and industry to try to apply a tourniquet on livestock movement, a place where a disease devastating to animal health or foreign livestock markets could be blocked from moving from west to east, or vice versa.“This is the natural place,” said Mark Beaven, the executive director of the Canadian Animal Health Coalition, as he praised the federal government’s decision to make the temporary livestock inspection station at West Hawk Lake permanent and open 24-7.“That’s the biggest thing West Hawk gives us – a chance to zone.”Canada covers half of a continent from sea to sea to sea, with often little movement of live animals from one region to the others.But when a disease breaks out anywhere in Canada, livestock shipments to foreign countries are often blocked or slowed for all Canadian farmers. Outbreaks of avian influenza in British Columbia, BSE in Alberta, chronic wasting disease in Alberta and Saskatchewan and H1N1 in B.C. and Alberta have all ravaged Canadian livestock and meat trade with the rest of the world.The hope of livestock organizations and the government is to use the West Hawk Lake station as a way of dividing east and west in foreign governments’ and buyers’ eyes. That way, there would be a chance to disrupt the shipments from only half the country.“When they hear about West Hawk Lake and how it works, how there’s a bottleneck there that’s in the middle of the country, their eyes widen,” said Beaven.West Hawk Lake is about 150 kilometres east of Winnipeg on the Ontario border. It is an ideal chokepoint, because only one road – the Trans-Canada – and one rail track connect the two sides of the country.The federal government is providing up to $2 million for the inspection station to become permanent.“This initiative allows Canada to once again prove to our international trading partners that we’re ready and able to get on top of any potential animal disease problems quickly and effectively,” said federal agriculture minister Gerry Ritz, announcing the funding May 15.Beaven said American officials seem positive about the zoning attempt and his coalition and other groups will begin highlighting it every time they meet foreign officials and buyers.“We want to encourage and convince our trading partners to accept and acknowledge West Hawk Lake’s existence and our ability to zone the country in two,” said Beaven. “We’re starting to get good feedback.”
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