A delegation of Lacombe, Alta., residents that wants province-wide intensive livestock operation regulations implemented immediately were discouraged after a meeting with the agriculture minister.
“The political will isn’t there,” said Ken Poffenroth, a Lacombe realtor about a two-hour meeting with minister Ty Lund.
“He did not leave the impression he felt strongly enough to put his political life on the line,” said Poffenroth, who thinks politicians aren’t willing to risk the debate over ILOs before the expected spring election.
“It has to be an issue cabinet wants to deal with and they don’t feel it’s safe to deal with.”
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Without regulations counties will make up their own rules around ILOs like the recent changes to Lacombe county bylaws, said the Re/max real estate agent, who is a member of the group Lacombe County Partners in Agriculture Land.
“They’ll go off willy-nilly doing things different in different counties.”
At the beginning of August, Lacombe county councilors implemented a land-use bylaw that forces new and expanding farms to ensure the minimum distance between livestock operations and residences be on land owned by the producer.
The bylaw is fine for larger farms that can afford to buy more land if they want to expand, but it will force small producers out of business, he said.
European farmers wanting to buy land in the county have walked away from deals because of the restrictions on the land, the realtor said.
The minister said it would be at least 18 months before ILO legislation would be introduced.
Poffenroth said that’s too long to wait.
“If it takes us 18 months to get some legislative change there will be irreparable damage. To wait two years is going to be far too long. The potential bumps in the road will be a cement wall.”
