Presentation to the Clean Environment Commission on Manitoba's Hog Industry - It's hog policy chaos!

Today I had the opportunity to make a brief presentation to the Clean Environment Commission on the scope of its investigation into the environmental sustainability of the hog industry in Manitoba. I've pasted the text of my presentation below.

The hog review was announced by the NDP at the same time it imposed an undefined moratorium on hog expansion - only months after announcing $27 million in provincial money for the OlyWest hog processing proposal. Talk about getting mixed messages from the NDP.

To date, it appears I am the only provincial MLA to appear at the CEC's meetings. Pretty shocking when you consider how important this issues is to both the economy and the environment.

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Manitoba Liberal Party Presentation to the
CEC Hog Production Industry Review

Dr. Jon Gerrard, Leader of the Manitoba Liberal Party
January 23, 2007


Preliminary Comments

Thank you for this opportunity to present the Manitoba Liberal Party’s position on the scope of your review into the environmental sustainability of the hog industry in Manitoba.

Four years ago, the CEC specifically called for a full environmental review of the industry, to start in 2003 and to be completed by December 2005. After years of inaction from this current government, it’s good to see you are now tasked with looking into what should have been finished over a year ago.

The long delay in getting to this review, when coupled with the convoluted and mixed messages the current government has sent to industry, municipalities, environmental groups, and indeed to all Manitobans has led to downright confusion over what exactly the government policy is.

The future role of the hog industry in Manitoba and its environmental impact is too important for government ignore any further. The industry represents huge investments in Manitoba, jobs in Manitoba and the growth and revitalization of some communities in our province.

Given the shocking lack of clarity from the present government, Manitoba Liberals want an inclusive, accurate, and understandable policy for ensuring both the environmental sustainability and the economic viability of the hog industry in Manitoba.

More than anything else, Liberals want this government to stop treating the hog industry on the one hand as a political scapegoat and on the other hand a type of electoral sweetener. We want a policy framework based on sound science and sound economics, not on political machinations.

Scope of Hog Industry Review

Sadly due to the terrible failure of the present NDP government we have a hopelessly inadequate knowledge of the impact of this industry on our environment.

1) Phosphorus. It has been claimed that 1% of the phosphorous going into Lake Winnipeg comes from the hog industry. But the data this number is based on are questionable. Do the 8.6 million hogs produced annually in Manitoba account for just one sixth or less of the phosphorous going into Lake Winnipeg compared to the 700,000 Manitobans living in the Winnipeg area? It must be your task to provide a credible answer to this question– or at very minimum to ensure the basic research is done to know the answer.

2) Antibiotics. There are growing concerns about the rise in antibiotic resistance in treating human infections and this rise in antibiotic resistance has been blamed on antibiotic use in animals – to the extent that in 1986 Sweden enacted a total ban on the use of antibiotics as sub-therapeutic feed additives for disease prevention and growth promotion. Is it the case that Manitoba has reached the point where we too have to look at adopting the Swedish model? I don’t know the answer – but clearly it must be part of your task to address the issue of health impacts.

3) Climate Change. A recent report revealed that Manitoba’s greenhouse gases have increased by 11% since 1990 and that greenhouse gas production in Manitoba continues to increase. Manitoba is burning while the Premier fiddles. A major reason for the increase has been agriculture. But how much of Manitoba’s agricultural greenhouse gas production comes from the hog industry? Is action needed here and if so what actions? Your report needs to address this matter.

These are just three quick examples of questions that need answers. The NDP government’s latest propaganda piece – An Examination of the Sustainability of the Hog Industry in Manitoba comes nowhere close to answering these questions.

It is essential that you go beyond reviewing the government spin in documents like this. What we need is a broad, comprehensive, and forward-looking report which sets the stage for a vibrant environmentally sustainable industry.

We must know what is needed so that the hog industry stays environmentally sustainable not just today but 5, 10, and 20 years down the road. Your report must provide the solid, environmental stewardship on which the hog industry can stand for a generation.

Now, some specific points for you to consider in your review.

Limits to Growth

Taking care of our environment is without doubt the single biggest factor that will set limits on the growth of the hog industry in Manitoba. Without a clear and accurate understanding of the measures needed to protect our environment, the hog industry will continue to be used by certain governments as a scapegoat for every environmental problem under the sun.

The utter failure of this provincial government to provide both operators and municipalities a clear context in which to function has put this industry on the verge of experiencing serious damage. This must change, beginning with your report.

Environmental Liability

Your panel must also look seriously at the issue of financial liability around any environmental damage from the industry. Already, it is likely the bill for the clean up of Lake Winnipeg alone may be a billion dollars – likely more.

No industry on its own can afford a court ruling where it ends up being solely responsible for liability of this extent. In Manitoba, we have legislation which allows a provincial government to clean up an environmental problem like that on Lake Winnipeg, and then charge the industry. A huge bill of this sort would badly hurt the hog production industry.

While I certainly do not expect things to come to something like this, your panel and all Manitobans must be aware that the continued failure in proper provincial stewardship is leaving a Damocletian sword hanging over the hog industry.

Your panel needs to discuss the size and scope of the possible outstanding environmental liability which the industry may face.

Phosphorus Loading

As mentioned, your panel needs to pay particular attention to the hog industry’s role in the production, use, and disposal of phosphorus, which is the critical rate-limiting nutrient when it comes to the growth of toxic blue-green algal blooms in Lake Winnipeg and other Manitoba lakes.

Pigs produce a lot of phosphorous. But the critical question your panel needs to address is the amount of hog phosphorous entering Manitoba’s waterways, what can be done to reduce it, and why provincial Tory and NDP governments have been so derelict in ensuring good science is used as the base for public policy.

Waste Management Practices

Further to that point, we know the greatest amount of phosphorus loading occurs with spring runoff. The CEC must take a hard look at ending the practice of spreading manure in the winter and mandating the injection of hog waste into the ground so waste is no longer subject to surface run off.

I would note that in a bizarre move the provincial government took away the right of municipalities to undertake good environmental stewardship by requiring injection (as was the case with the RM of Morris). In its place, the provincial NDP government has failed to make injection a provincial requirement.

This means the current provincial NDP government is directly contributing to the amount of phosphorous going into Lake Winnipeg each spring. My preference of course would be to solve this problem by getting rid of the current NDP government, but that is not the subject of your panel. That is the domain of Manitoba voters.

Industry Location and Air Quality

Your panel must look very closely at the issue of air quality around hog operations, and in particular on the location of hog operations with respect to urban centres in Manitoba.

The Manitoba Liberal Party was the only major Manitoba political party to oppose the location of the OlyWest plant inside the City of Winnipeg limits. Our opposition to the location was based in large part on the deeply held concerns of local residents and businesses of the potential deterioration of the environment and particularly the air quality in the surrounding area.

Our party notes that other major hog plants in Manitoba, those in Brandon and in Neepawa are located outside of local urban areas. This helps minimize negative air quality concerns on residential and commercial areas. Our party believes the CEC needs to investigate what fundamental policies must be put in place in terms of the location of hog operations. We need to move away from an NDP ad hoc approach, moving the goal posts on each and every case. We need to give a clear signal to the industry of where they can locate and where they cannot.

Concluding Remarks

I will now conclude my presentation with these comments. There is a desperate need to get away from treating the hog industry as either a political scapegoat or an electoral sweetener depending the NDP provincial government’s immediate whims or needs.

What Liberals want to see from your review is the basis for a policy framework that leaves us with a hog industry that is both environmentally sustainable and economically viable for the long term.

Let us remember that Industry works in the policy environment we give them. If we want to make the transition from what we have today – a snap moratorium, mixed messages, and hog policy chaos – to a structured environment for hog operators with strong environmental stewardship, we need a provincial government willing to show real leadership.

In the absence of such leadership, it unfortunately falls on your panel today to provide it.

At least until the next provincial election.

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