The Ministry of Agriculture and Agri-Food is investing up to $45.3 million to enhance efforts to prevent African swine fever (ASF) from entering Canada and prepare for a potential outbreak.
ASF is a fatal swine disease that spreads through direct and indirect contact with infected pigs, pork, and pork by-products.
The Government of Canada is investing up to $23.4 million to support the pork industry’s prevention and mitigation efforts, up to $19.8 million will be invested in the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s (CFIA) prevention and preparedness efforts, and up to $2.1 million in funding dedicated to enhancing the Canada Border Services Agency’s (CBSA) border control activities.
The Ministry said that preventing the spread of ASF into Canada will require a collaborative approach to protect Canada’s pork industry while helping the industry prepare for a timely and coordinated response to limit the potential impact of an outbreak.
Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Marie-Claude Bibeau said that the funding would be critical in reducing the risk of the introduction and spread of ASF in Canada.
“We must continue to work as a team – federal, provincial and territorial governments together with industry, to prevent African swine fever from entering the country. Strengthening the measures already in place is essential to protecting the hog sector and the vitality of rural communities.”
Bibeau also commented on the Federal Government’s announcement of cutting 2020 fertilizer emissions by 30 per cent by 2030.
An announcement has been criticized, including Saskatchewan’s Agriculture Minister David Marit saying that “the Trudeau government has apparently moved on from their attack on the oil and gas industry and set their sights on Saskatchewan farmers.”
Bibeau said they are not attacking farmers but want to work with them to improve practicalities and make them more environmentally sustainable and friendly.
“We can improve some practices,” she said. “We want to include as many farmers as possible to use and apply the 4R approach to make sure that they are using the right amount of fertilizer at the right place at the right moment. It’s a good way to reduce emissions, and we know that many farmers already do that to a certain extent.”
As for the criticism that the announcement has faced, Bibeau believes some misinformation about their goal is to blame.
“I’m afraid there has been a lot of misinformation into it. Of course, we know that farmers are doing a lot. The most precious thing they have is their land. It is obvious to me that the uptake in our Agri-environmental programs is obvious that they care.”
“I’ll use the example of 4R. So many know about it, but we see that only 25 percent of the land is being farmed using 4R, so there is a space for more, and by putting in place some incentives, we are hoping to get more farmers to join this very good approach.,” she continued .”I do recognize that they are working extremely hard and what they want is to keep their soil healthy, and we want to be there to support them.”
Bibeau added that the 30 per cent number is a goal, not a number they are looking to enforce.