Citizens for the Environment and Future in Eastern Ontario

 

www.ceaeo.org

PLEASE PRINT THIS PAGE (this screen view, or the PDF file of the petition, downloadable by clicking here),
to SIGN the petition, GATHER MORE SIGNATURES, and MAIL your sheets to the address at the bottom of the page (don’t use email please)

Petition to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario Assembled

Whereas Intensive Hog Operations are incompatible with the preservation of conventional family farming and our rural communities and the sustainability of a quality of life for all rural residents;

Whereas the Ontario Nutrient Management Act and its regulations do not address the health, environmental or social consequences of Intensive Hog Operations;

Whereas the province of Quebec has extended its moratorium on all new Hog Operations and the expansion of all existing Hog Operations until the end of 2004;

Whereas the Canadian Medical Association has asked the Federal, Provincial and Territorial governments for a moratorium on the expansion of the hog industry pending evidence through sound scientific studies that they will have no negative impact on people’s health:

Therefore, we the undersigned demand that the Dalton McGuinty government of Ontario immediately put in place a moratorium on the construction of any new or expansion of any existing Hog Operations. We ask that there be a medical, scientific and economic review of Intensive Hog Operations to determine whether such operations are likely to adversely impact the environment, source water, health, safety and/or welfare of communities living in close proximity to Intensive Hog Operations. Following the medical, scientific and economic review, there should be a round of public consultations on the findings and committees organized to determine how best to proceed to protect the environment while promoting sustainable agriculture and healthy rural communities.

In addition, we would like to suggest that, throughout the duration of the moratorium, consideration should be given to those hog operations that meet strict criteria in their proposal for expansion of an existing facility or for the development of a new hog facility, as was done successfully in Quebec. The criteria include: Solid manure management (as a result of raising pigs on shavings or straw); Absence of preventative antibiotics in the maintenance of the hogs; Absence of animal proteins in hog feed (whether in the form of ground animal by-products, or meat meal); Acceptance of the project by the citizens in the surrounding community; and Maximum animal density of 5 hogs per hectare, 600 hogs/farm;

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Please return completed petitions to: (CEFEO) Citizens for the Future and Environment in Eastern Ontario, P.O. Box 345, St. Eugene, Ontario K0B 1PO