Government of Saskatchewan's Hog Venture:
Relaxing pollution and labour standards in the name of agricultural diversification

Nipawin - July 20, 2000 - By: Mario deSantis
   

relentless policies

I don't have knowledge of the agricultural industry, but today, as I read Murray Mandryk's
article "Hog in the headlines(1)" I wanted to write a few lines and warn our readers of the
relentless policies of this government to further kill the family farm, pollute the environment
and increase the wealth of the few and privileged.
   

Big Sky
Farms

Mandryk described quite well the regressive policies of this government in the hog industry.
Mandryk claims that the government is investing $15 million into Big Sky Farms Inc.
because our business climate is not conducive to attract private investment dollars, even though
this government is not imposing restrictive environmental controls on huge hog barn operations
and exempts hog operators from certain Labour Standards Act provisions such as overtime,
working conditions and vacation pay.
   

astronomic social costs

The direction to support giant hog barns doesn't sustain the rural economy and our government
doesn't want to learn how small hog farms are thriving in Manitoba without any governmental
support and it doesn't want to learn about the astronomic social costs caused by huge hog
operators in the United States(2). Environmentalist Donella Meadows states that

tightly
regulated

"in any functional democracy massive animal-feeding operations, if permitted
at all, would be tightly regulated, fined for their infractions, taxed like everyone
else, and made to clean up their messes at their own expense(3)."

relaxing pollution and labour standards

And in Saskatchewan we have no hope that this situation will occur since our own government
is putting money into huge hog farms, and our own government is protecting this industry by
legislatively relaxing pollution and labour standards.
   
-------------Endnotes:
   

1.

Hog in the headlines, by Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post, July 19, 2000, Regina, Saskatchewan
   

2.
-

You can refer to the following sites to know more about industrial hog farming: www.hogwatch.org  www.factoryfarm.org  www.cfra.org  www.nrdc.org/nrdcpro/factor/aafinx.html
   

3.

How Campaign Reform Could Clean Up a log of Hog Manure, Donella Meadows' The Global Citizen, January 20, 2000 http://iisd1.iisd.ca/pcdf/meadows/hog_manure.html