The Kenney government will introduce legislation to protect farmers and ranchers from “radical activists” protesting on their properties, area MLA and Alberta Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Devin Dreeshen said Thursday.
The legislation comes following a recent protest at the Jumbo Valley Hutterite Colony where protesters entered the facility.
The new legislation will include fines of up to $10,000 for a first offence and up to $25,000 for subsequent offences for individuals and $200,000 for organizations, and imprisonment up to six months.
The legislation will also amend the Animal Health Act so farmers affected by bio-security breaches can recover their costs and convicted trespassers who breech bio-security can be fined $15,000 for a first offence and $30,000 and imprisonment up to one year for subsequent offences.
“Farmers shouldn’t have to worry about people entering their workplace, interfering with their lives or threatening the health of their animals,” Dreeshen said. “We must act to protect our farmers and ranchers from radical activists.”
Premier Jason Kenney echoed Dreeshen’s comments.
“Alberta’s farmers and ranchers treat their animals well, and they have a right to run their operations without illegal harassment from militant trespassers.”
The province will also introduce amendments to the Provincial Offences Procedures Act to increase the maximum compensation awarded by the courts to $100,000.
Dreeshen is the MLA for Innisfail-Sylvan Lake.
Trevor Miller, one of the organizers of the Jumbo Valley protest, said in a press release: "In search of provincial and federal votes the Alberta government has come down firmly on the side of normalized animal abuse. We won’t stop until inherent rights are recognized in an animal bill of rights.
"This includes the right to be free, to fair representation under the protection of the laws, protected habitat, to be rescued from distress, and the inherent right to not be exploited. Under the current legal system animals are considered property, which means we can’t go to the police and say a crime is taking place because legally, there’s not.”
