In the spring of 2017, the Conservative government brought forward the
The Red Tape Reduction and Government Efficiency Act, 2017 (Bill 24). This omnibus bill will amend many pieces of legislation including repealing Sections 40.1, 40.2 of
The Environment Act, which calls for environmentally sound treatment technologies of manure that is similar to or better than anaerobic digestion.
- Bill 24 removes a long-standing moratorium our previous NDP government had in place that prevented the expansion of manure storage facilities for hog operations.
- It also removes a legislative ban that was put in place to prevent the winter spreading of manure on agricultural fields. When manure is spread in the winter, it is far more likely to run off the fields during the spring melt and into our waterways. The government says it is keeping this ban in place under existing regulations, but any regulation can be changed at a meeting of Cabinet without the public even knowing about it until afterwards. If they support a ban on winter spreading, why remove it from legislation?