Environment and Climate Change Canada still won’t say what it was looking for in Saskatchewan dugouts after a public spat between the provincial and federal governments.
Federal Minister Steven Guilbeault responded to trespass allegations from his provincial counterpart Jeremy Cockrill by saying Ottawa has been testing water across the country for more than 50 years and that recent tests were not related to fertilizer emissions.
ECCC said the testing was being done for Health Canada and that the samples were not being taken to check for nitrates. However, it wouldn’t say why the agency was taking samples.
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Cockrill posted a letter on social media after hearing from producers that federal workers were checking dugouts.
Guilbeault said Cockrill spread misinformation when he accused workers of testing for nitrates.
“You brought this matter to my attention in your very public and very frank letter of Aug. 21,” he wrote. “I also took note of your comments openly speculating about the work of these scientists. Please allow me to be equally frank and public in my response: departmental officials are not testing water for nitrates or nutrients related to farm runoff, and their study is not related to the non-regulated, voluntary goals of the Government of Canada in an effort to reduce emissions from agricultural fertilizers.”
The minister said claims made in the media about this incident come on top of other recent misinformation that misrepresents “work that is voluntary, unregulated and being done in partnership with Canadian farmers to reduce emissions, not fertilizer use.”
Many prairie farmers are concerned about the federal government’s goal to reduce emissions from fertilizer by 30 percent by 2030.
Guilbeault said if a federal scientist is inadvertently on private land without permission that can be handled in a mature and informed manner.
“As a measure of good faith, Environment and Climate Change Canada is reviewing its sampling protocols to ensure they are consistent with area laws before doing any further sampling,” he said.
The Saskatchewan cabinet hurriedly passed an order-in-council to include federal employees in trespass legislation a day after a picture of two working near a dugout was posted. The public letter to Guilbeault was posted a day after that.
University of Calgary law professor Martin Olszynski told several media outlets that the change was essentially meaningless. He also used social media to say the amendment “didn’t magically make fed(eral) inspectors trespassers.”
The amendment didn’t change the fact that lawful authority is not trespass, and that authority comes from relevant federal legislation, not the province, he said. For example, under the Fisheries Act federal inspectors have authorization to enter land.
