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Barlow proposes bill to protect farms, livestock

Foothills MP John Barlow has put up a private member's bill requesting an amendment to the Animal Health Act to make trespassing on farms an offence under the act to protect the agriculture and food industries.
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Foothills MP John Barlow wants to see trespassing on farms made an offence under the Animal Health Act to protect farmers, livestock and food safety. (File photo Brent Calver/Western Wheel)

Protecting Canada’s livestock and agricultural health is at the centre of a private member’s bill proposed by Foothills MP John Barlow.

The bill would amend the Animal Health Act to address trespassers onto farms and into barns or other enclosed areas where the health of animals and safety of Canada’s food supply is potentially put at risk. Entering onto a farm without lawful authority or excuse would become an offence under the act.

“For me this is something that’s quite personal,” said Barlow.

His motion was spurred by an incident near Fort Macleod in the fall, when a farmer at the Jumbo Valley Hutterite turkey farm went to the barn early in the morning to check on the free-range turkeys and was met with upwards of 90 protestors.

“I went down and visited with the farmer and his family, and they were really distraught,” said Barlow. “They were overwhelmed and didn’t know what to do. They were speechless.”

He said the incident resulted in calls from other residents asking if it was open season on farms in the region. The level of stress and anxiety on Foothills farms was palpable, he said.

Residents were still concerned over other rural crime issues, but having people come onto farms struck a different chord, he said.

Beyond the health and financial well-being of farmers, the amendment would also address Canada’s biosecurity, said Barlow.

“When we have these protestors trespassing and breaking into private property, breaking into barns or sheds or other facilities where animals are kept, many times they don’t understand the very real and very dire consequences of their actions,” he said.

“They could be spreading disease, viruses, that could decimate not only that farm itself, but could be catastrophic to an entire industry.”

He said most of the protestors found in the barn at Jumbo Valley had been protesting on a hog farm in Abbottsford. B.C. one week prior, and had made their way east to the turkey farm.

It poses a real risk to animals and the food industry, as disease could be carried unwittingly from one location to another, he said.

In China, the hog industry has been obliterated by African Swine Fever passing through farms. If the same disease was to pass through Canada, the results would be crippling, he said.

“This would be billion-dollar kick to Canada’s hog industry, similar to what we went through with BSE more than a decade ago,” said Barlow.

He said passing the amendment is not a public relations initiative, and it’s not a partisan issue – it’s something that is necessary in Canada to protect the country’s livestock and farmers.

He feels the bill has a good chance at passing through the House of Commons because it protects farmers and food supply.

It would send a strong message to the agriculture industry and also to customers around the world that Canada takes its biosecurity seriously, he said. Making trespassing on farms an offence under the Animal Health Act would add to the already-strong suite of programs through the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to ensure food safety, he said.

“This is just another step to strengthen that very strong and rigid framework,” said Barlow.

He said the bill is not about muzzling protests or removing freedom of speech.

“If you want to protest and you have issues, you can do that on public property. But there has to be a line drawn in the sand, so to speak, that once you put the health of a farmer and his family and their livestock and their animals at risk, you’ve gone too far,” said Barlow.

“We’ve seen this become more and more prominent, and we felt it was time we took some pretty definitive action to say that you cannot cross this line and put Canada’s agriculture industry at risk.”

Krista Conrad, OkotoksToday.ca

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