Last November the Manitoba Government announced it would proceed with a temporary pause in the development of new or expanding swine operations pending a Clean Environment Commission review of the industry's environmental sustainability.

Last month the CEC held a series of scoping meetings to gather public input on what should be included in the review and the commission is now examining the presentations to determine issues it will address.

Manitoba Pork Council community relations and sustainable development

director Peter Mah says, while the review needs to be thorough, it needs to be completed as soon as possible to pave the way toward ending the pause so it is important to remain focused on the environment.

Peter Mah-Manitoba Pork Council

There's a number of environmental issues that we felt would and should be included but there was a number of other issues which we thought should not be included within the scope of that review.

Those in scope for instance would include use of water and water quality issues of course which really precipitated this whole review, items or issues dealing with manure storage and handling and technology, really keen on nutrient management as well as odor management, environmental research and development activities and this kind of thing.

In fact we would even suggest that the CEC look at, very closely, the existing and proposed environmental regulations in Manitoba relative to other jurisdictions and, in fact, the record of monitoring and enforcement and the kinds of protocols and requirements that government go through to ensure compliance.

Mah suggests areas that should not be reviewed would include non-environmental issues such as animal welfare, business risk management insurance, food safety and traceability and animal disease management.

He fears non environmental issues would over complicate the process, divert attention from the mandate and extend the review period.

ThePigSite News Desk