View From the Legislature

At around 1:00 am in the early hours of last Friday, the Manitoba Legislature wrapped up the week following several late nights. This is a pattern that will repeat itself into June and fall as there are many pieces of legislation and other business to address during this unusually busy legislative session. Because of the disruption of the Manitoba Legislature last spring (partly due to the pandemic and partly due to opposition stall tactics) there is a backlog of legislation currently being debated.

With a significant number of bills up for discussion, additional time has been added for debate and several bills will be held over till October and November of this year for further consideration. While the delay in legislation last year has caused a significant backlog this year, with the earlier start date of the session and additional time added, there will still be more time for debate and consideration of bills than there has normally been in spring sittings of the legislature over the past several decades.

Among the many pieces of legislation are two that are particularly important to the farm community in Manitoba. Bill 62 (The Animal Diseases Amendment Act) and Bill 63 (The Petty Trespasses Amendment and Occupiers’ Liability Amendment Act) combine to help prevent the tampering with farm operations and farm animals. Biosecurity protocols are among the most important issues on today’s modern farm as diseases like the African Swine Fever or the Avian Influenza or the introduction of noxious weeds can devastate a farming operation.

Recently, several farm organizations offered their support for these pieces of legislation. These include the Dairy Farmers of Manitoba, Manitoba Beef Producers, Manitoba Chicken Producers, Manitoba Egg Farmers, Manitoba Pork, Manitoba Turkey Producers, and the Keystone Agricultural Producers. The organizations recognize the importance of ensuring the safety of food production in Manitoba and our government will continue to work with them on these and other measures.

As well as debating legislation, on Wednesday of next week the provincial budget will be introduced. This will be one of the most important budgets in recent memory as Manitoba continues to deal with the global economic challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. While the budget itself is expected to be voted on within two weeks, there will be many weeks of questioning that go through the budget line by line.

This is a particularly busy time in the Manitoba Legislature. However, Manitobans who are interested in any of these issues can find more detailed information as well as recordings of the Legislature proceedings on the Manitoba Legislature website at gov.mb.ca. As well, I look forward to updating you on these and other matters from the Manitoba Legislature during the weeks ahead.