Manitoba’s elk producers are looking for added clout to stop legislation they fear will harm their industry.
The Manitoba Elk Growers Association said the province is preparing legislation that will put elk farming under the jurisdiction of natural resources rather than agriculture.
The association asked Keystone Agricultural Producers last week to help it prevent the shift in authority to natural resources, which is now part of the conservation department.
“Natural resources is opposed to game ranching in this province,” association president Edwin Harms said April 13 at a KAP general council meeting.
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Harms said elk growers met with agriculture minister Rosann Wowchuk earlier this month.
He said the minister was not interested in hearing their concerns about Bill 5, which contains amendments to the province’s Wildlife Act.
What is wildlife
The proposed amendments also deal with the government’s authority over captive hunting of wildlife. Bill 5 defines “wildlife” as animals that are wild by nature and indigenous in the province.
Elk growers want the hunting of farmed elk made legal in Manitoba. They think the proposed legislation will thwart those hopes.
The producers remain envious of their counterparts in Saskatchewan, where it is legal to hunt farmed elk.
By hosting hunters, many of them American, Saskatchewan elk growers can earn more than $10,000 for each bull elk shot on their farms.
“Why do we always have to be the last ones to get on board?” Harms asked.
“If it can happen in other jurisdictions, we’re going to be exporting the industry and the tourism dollars that go with it.”
KAP passed a motion last week that supports keeping Manitoba’s elk industry under the jurisdiction of Manitoba Agriculture.
“This gentleman’s right on,” said KAP executive member Glen Jeffrey, speaking in support of a motion prepared by Harms.
“They have a concern and we have to deal with it.”
Another KAP member suggested that placing the elk industry under the authority of natural resources would be akin to placing the province’s hog industry under the jurisdiction of the Winnipeg Humane Society.
KAP president Don Dewar said he recently appeared before a Senate committee in Ottawa to talk about farm incomes and farm safety nets. While there, he was told that prairie farmers should diversify more into ventures such as elk farming.
