Alberta Warns Federal Pandemic Prevention Bill Could ‘Devastate’ Agricultural Sector

The Canadian flag blows on the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on June 28, 2024. The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick

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.

He said he has written to Alberta’s senators, the federal agriculture minister, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, and Health Canada to share the province’s concerns about the bill and asked the Senate to consider amending the bill “so we can avoid any unintended consequences.”

Bill C-293, introduced in June 2022 by Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, passed third reading 164–144 on June 5. The bill has not yet gone before the Senate.

The legislation is intended to “prevent the risk of and prepare for future pandemics” by establishing surveillance systems for infectious diseases, supporting local public health capacity building, training health-care workers to deal with sudden increases in patient volume, reporting on pandemic preparedness manufacturing capacities, identifying “key drivers of pandemic risk,” and describing “how Canadian activities, domestic and abroad, contribute to the risk.”

The bill requires the agriculture minister and the industry minister to provide measures to reduce risks from antimicrobial resistance, regulate commercial activities like industrial animal agriculture that can contribute to pandemic risks, and promote the “production of alternative proteins” that do not carry the same pandemic risks.

Opposition by Agricultural Groups

Alberta Health Minister Adriana LaGrange told the press conference Bill C-293 was drafted “despite a lack of consultation” with provinces and territories, and the bill’s unclear language could lead to “dangerous interpretation and misuse of political and administrative powers during vulnerable times.”

The legislation could also intrude on the province’s jurisdiction for managing its health-care system during public health emergencies, LaGrange said. “It is crucial to create plans that minimize the effects of future pandemics for everyone. However, these plans must take into account the unique challenges faced by each jurisdiction.”

Alberta agriculture representatives also criticized the bill, with Alberta Chicken Producers Chair David Hyink saying the legislation “could potentially threaten the livelihoods of farm families.”

Alberta Beef Producers Vice Chair Doug Roxburgh said Bill C-293 shows “a clear bias against livestock industries.”

During debate on June 3, 2023, Liberal MP Erskine-Smith said his bill was important to “ensure accountability” in future Parliaments. “No one wants to relive what we lived through, but let us remember what we went through, because if we do not remember, we are destined to live through something very similar,” he said.

During that debate, Conservative MP Richard Bragdon raised concerns about the bill’s call for pandemic preparation through a “One Health” approach outlined in the legislation. One Health is defined by the World Health Organization as a “unifying approach to balance and optimize the health of people, animals and the environment” that focuses on food and water safety, nutrition, pollution management, and combatting antimicrobial resistance.

“Let us make sure we never surrender our sovereignty over the rights to our approach to any kind of a health crisis in this country and make sure that we are best prepared now by learning the difficult lessons to be learned coming out of COVID,” he said.

Bloc Québécois MP Sylvie Bérubé also raised jurisdictional concerns with some aspects of the bill, saying, “We want to ensure that Ottawa does not overstep its jurisdiction.”

Defending his bill, Erskine-Smith said it’s important to be prepared when facing the unknown.

“If we remember, we will remember the army having to go into nursing homes. We will remember the fear of the unknown that we all experienced. We will remember the great scale of loss,” he said.