The Manitoba government was accused recently of using spy tactics to
hunt for farms that might be polluting the environment.
It’s an allegation that the province says arose out of a
misunderstanding, and a conservation department official said they have
not started a “covert operation” using airplanes to monitor activities
on farms.
The issue arose following an Oct. 17 meeting between provincial farm
groups and Manitoba conservation officials. During the meeting, it was
mentioned that the province had used planes this fall to gather some
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information about livestock farms.
The mention of airplanes was delivered in a “we are watching you” kind
of tone, said Scott Hunt, a cattle producer from Hartney, Man., and a
director for the Manitoba Cattle Producers Association. He got the
impression from the meeting that officials were compiling lists to
identify farms warranting further investigation of their manure
management.
“We found that to be quite offensive,” Hunt said. “They’re using it as
a pressure tool.”
Hunt said his association wants to know what information was gathered
by the department during the airplane flights. He said the MCPA will
use Access to Information legislation, which defines what information
government must make public, if that’s what it takes to unearth the
truth.
Sylvio Tessier of Manitoba Conservation said his department did send
staff out in planes in late September and early October to test the
merits of using aircraft to find previously unknown livestock
operations.
Conservation employees took note of those operations, said Tessier,
with the intention of returning later with a ground visit to make sure
the producers were aware of the province’s manure management
regulations.
The flights were also used to get a general sense of what types of
livestock operations are located in the different regions of the
province, he said.
The value of the information gained from those flights will be reviewed
this winter, but Tessier said the association between airplanes and a
covert surveillance of farms is ludicrous.
“We’re not running a covert operation. We don’t even have an operation
like they’re talking about. You can’t see a whole lot about what goes
on with manure application from the air.”
Claire De’Athe, also an MCPA director, said the actions of the
department smack of the tactics used by dictatorships.
“It isn’t democratic and it isn’t Canadian,” said De’Athe, a cattle
producer from Carberry, Man. “If they have a concern about my
operation, they could come to my door.”
The MCPA directors said cattle producers are an easy target for
airplane surveillance because their livestock and pens can easily be
viewed from the sky. However, De’Athe suggested the department’s
actions should be a concern to all producers.
“Because we are an open and visible commodity, initially we will feel
the heat, but I don’t think we’re the only people in the picture here.”
The MCPA directors raised the issue at a general council meeting of
Keystone Agricultural Producers in Brandon recently and won support to
protest the use of surveillance planes.
