Some Winnipeg residents don’t want to have a hog slaughter plant within two kilometres of their backyards.
About 250 people appeared at the provincial legislature Dec. 10 to listen to speeches, wave placards and express their dissent to the province’s support of the $200 million slaughter plant.
Both the City of Winnipeg and the Manitoba government support the project and the 1,100 new jobs it will bring to the city. The governments have offered incentives such as free land and training for new workers.
Opponents say it is unacceptable to situate a big slaughter plant in an industrial area only 1.5 kilometres from the nearest homes in the Transcona area.
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They fear the pigs and their processing will stink and the stream of hog-hauling trucks will be noisy, disruptive and polluting.
Project proponents, including the biggest hog producers in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, as well as Manitoba Pork Council and Olymel Foods, say the plant will have state-of-the-art air cleaning facilities and will be located far from the nearest homes. It is planned for an area zoned for factories that has major truck routes leading to it.
Winnipeg mayor Sam Katz and a majority of city council have supported the project, seeing it as a major economic boost for a city that has not been growing.
But a minority of councillors, including Transcona representative Russ Wyatt, have attacked Katz’s quick support for the project, which was only revealed a few weeks ago.
The Manitoba NDP government also supports the project, but the two NDP MLAs who represent the area have called on the city and province to delay the project until local residents’ minds can be put at ease.
