Doer Government to Make it Harder to Stop Factory Hog Farms

On March 11, the Doer government introduced a bill that would incorporate substantial changes to the province's Land Use and Planning Act. The changes would require all municipalities to adopt development plans, including providing maps specifying areas off limits for large-scale livestock operations and areas where they could be considered. These development plans would then be approved by the province.

According to the NDP government, through these development plans "municipalities will determine if, where and under what conditions livestock operations will be considered. This provides both the public and the industry with greater predictability."

However, activists opposed to factory hog barns have raised serious concerns over the proposed changes, pointing out that they hand over final decision making power to the Minister responsible for the Act (currently Intergovernmental Affairs Minister MaryAnn Mihychuk).

Given the NDP's enthusiastic support for the province's factory farm hog industry, activists point out the changes will make it more difficult, if not impossible, for local communities to ban large scale factory hog farms from setting up in their communities.

The environmental impact of these hog barns has been well documented, as has the fact that the establishment of these operations tends to wipe out smaller family-owned farmers.