III. RECOMMENDATIONS

1. Any “Memorandum of Understanding“ between the proponent of a major development and the Government of Manitoba or any other public body should be a public document and should require that governmental commitment to any action or subsidy be conditional on full compliance with all pertinent laws and regulations, including an evaluation of its sustainability. There should be public participation in the processes.

2. The Environment Act should be amended to reflect the requirements of The Sustainable Development Act and the findings and recommendations of the 1999 Manitoba Report on the Consultation on Sustainable Development (COSDI).

3. The Sustainable Development Act should be expanded beyond its current statement of principles. The requirement that all provincial departments and agencies include the consideration of “sustainability” in all their policies and actions, and the processes through which this goal may be attained, should be legislated. This legislation should reflect the need to strengthen the ability of the government to resist shortterm pressures to approve in principle, or to grant “perverse subsidies” (defined by the 1992 Rio Declaration, which was signed by the Government of Canada, as any incentive that shifts any or all of the full cost of an action from the proponent), and to allow full public exposure and examination before the “go, not go, or modify” decision is made.

4. The Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, currently being reviewed, should be amended to allow federal involvement in impact assessment to be “triggered” by a potential impact upon federal responsibilities, such as a threat to species under the Fisheries Act, and the protection of resources used by indigenous people, either on- or off-reserve.

5. Consultation, representation, public information sessions, etc., are useful parts of the examination and evaluation of a proposal, but should not be used as a substitute for public hearings.

6. The siting of hog barns should be considered on both the Municipal/District and the “Larger Area” level, so that decisions can be based on broader considerations of economic, social, health, cultural, and ecological impacts.

7. The Province of Manitoba should initiate a cooperative program with the municipalities and other jurisdictions to improve the technical background for making decisions by preparing risk maps in relation to the location of hog barns. Maps for other potentially polluting developments could also be included in such a program.

8. Large-scale corporate animal production units (particularly for hogs and chickens) should be:
• placed under “Workplace Health and Safety” legislation and regulation, including the Workers’ Compensation Act;
• made legally responsible for independent testing of ground and surface waters in their vicinity; and
• included in The Animal Care Act, as suitably amended to include animal confinement.

9. The Government of Manitoba should review recent research establishing the public health effects of hog-barn aerial emissions on human mental and physical health.

10. The Government of Manitoba should support research on the role of phosphorous in algal growth and surface water ecological processes in the Assiniboine River, Red River, and Lake Winnipeg. Licensing of developments that would increase the amount of phosphorus in this watershed should be postponed until their impact can be established.

11. The governments of Manitoba and Canada should cooperate to increase the number and frequency of tests for surface water quality and for ground water levels and quality.