Bill 17 leaves no room for evolving science

OPINION
by Brian Sterling

It would be easy to think that the recent passing of Bill 17 concerns only the hog industry - afterall, it is a permanent ban on the building or expansion of hog facilities. Nothing here of concern to the cattle industry—or is there?

In fact, the cattle industry should be very concerned. The unfettered enthusiasm shown by our government to embrace, and then to enforce environmental rules and regulations with little regard for science is highlighted in Bill 17. The not-so-subliminal message here is that our government will not hesitate to legislate a permanent ban whenever faced with an environmental challenge. Shoot first and ask questions later. As a cattle producer I am wondering who will be in the crosshairs tomorrow? In the meantime, we are in limbo - afraid to move and hesitant to expand. What, or who, will be next?

The cattle industry in this province has always been aware of the role we are play in the battle against environmental pollution. As the science evolves it is becoming quite evident that the cattle industry—particularly the cow-calf sector—will play an ever increasingly more significant role in the fight to preserve our natural landscape and watersheds; to slow down the conversion of marginal and wildlife habitat lands to grain production; and to reverse the damage caused by years of neglect of our water ways. Our cattle industry has the ability because of our land base, to secure an environment that has the capability of sequestering many more tonnes of carbon than the greenhouse gases we produce.

The point to be made here is this:
Environmental rules and regulations must be based on good science. And because that science is continually changing, a permanent ban on anything is short-sighted, self-serving and will have a cooling affect on all industries - not just hog production. Who wants to invest in a place where the rules change not because of what you are doing, but on what someone else “thinks” you are doing?

The idea of a permanent ban plays to urban regulators who are eager to assign blame to someone—to anyone, for environmental problems that are to a large extent of their own making. Note that city and town lagoons are routinely drained into our water ways every day.

A permanent ban on anything leaves no room to accept continuously changing science and technologies that will make it possible for an industry to comply with environmental standards in the future, and then be able to expand in a sustainable manner. Governments need to forge partnerships with livestock producers to ensure province-wide acceptance and commitment to the principles and practises to make sustainable development a reality.

Wielding a big stick and dictating permanent bans with no regard for the changing science and technologies will not make any of this achievable.

Why is this so difficult for policy makers to understand?

- Chairman of the MCPA Environment Committee.