Animal health act proposes powerful crisis prevention powers for province

Monday, October 5, 2009

by SUSAN MANN

Ontario’s proposed Animal Health Act is what the livestock and poultry industry had in mind for laws to help detect, control and even prevent animal diseases, says dairy and veal farmer Deborah Whale.
 
The proposed Act was introduced in Ontario’s legislature Monday and Whale, who farms with her husband Bruce south of Drayton, is “absolutely delighted. We’ve been waiting a long, long time for this.”

Not everyone shares Whale’s enthusiasm. Progressive Conservative agriculture critic Ernie Hardeman approves of the bill’s purpose but is concerned farmers may be expected to foot the bill for establishing the framework for traceability measures.

That would be totally unacceptable, particularly with what’s going on in the hog and beef industries, he says.

Hardeman also challenges the bill’s lack of detail concerning who pays for livestock should contagious animals on infected premises be ordered euthanized.

He says the bill should be sent to committee once the second reading debate is done and there should be public hearings “to hear from the people who are going to be impacted by it.”

Ontario Ministry of Agriculture Food and Rural Affairs spokesman Brent Ross says Ontario’s livestock and poultry sector asked the provincial government in 2006 for animal health legislation to protect animal and human health. “The proposal for the legislation is designed to help prevent and quickly control animal diseases when they occur and thereby minimize potential negative impacts.”

Whale says the livestock and poultry community has worked very hard to get an animal health act for Ontario. The government’s proposal is “section by section, what we wanted.”

The Act will facilitate government and industry’s ability to respond in crisis situations. It will also “make sure that we’re prepared so that we don’t face a crisis,” Whale says.

Ontario’s Chief Veterinarian Dr. Deb Stark says the proposed Act will enable the government to work with industry groups interested in establishing preventative programs.

In a written statement, Ontario Agriculture Minister Leona Dombrowsky says the proposed legislation would protect both animal and human health and “would enable us to respond to disease situations promptly.”

Proposal features are:

1.    reporting of specific animal diseases to Ontario’s Chief Veterinarian;
2.    enabling the use of quarantine orders, surveillance zones and animal health control areas to control the spread of detected diseases or hazards;
3.    supporting a future traceability framework to quickly identify and control disease and food safety hazards.

Ross says the proposed Act enables Ontario’s government to do certain things that it can’t necessarily do easily now, for example establishing quarantines, surveillance and areas of control.

Ontario’s proposed Act won’t replace or duplicate federal animal disease control laws but instead compliment them, Ross says. “It allows us to more effectively assist the federal government or other provinces.”

Ontario is the only Canadian province without an animal health act.

If the legislation is passed, livestock and poultry groups will be consulted on regulations, Ross says. BF