The Alberta government is warning that aspects of a federal pandemic prevention bill before Parliament encroach on the province’s constitutional jurisdiction, posing a particular threat to its agricultural industry.
Alberta Agriculture and Irrigation Minister RJ Sigurdson told a press conference Bill C-293, the Pandemic Prevention and Preparedness Act, “singles out” the agricultural industry and would give the federal government authority “to allow public health officials to shut down facilities like livestock operations and meat processing plants without clear objective criteria.”
“These proposed changes could devastate Alberta’s agricultural industry with huge negative consequences on producers, processors, and our entire provincial economy,” Sigurdson said….