Just in case there’s still a living, breathing rural Eastern Ontario resident out there who doesn’t think there are too many government enforcers running around the countryside – and I don’t mean the OPP – let me put forward the case of North Stormont farmer Lyle Ouderkirk.
Lyle’s cows sometimes wonder into the Payne River for a drink and, while quenching their thirst, do what cows do… they relieve themselves. It’s a scene repeated right across the province every day, a situation nobody encourages and something which agencies such as South Nation Conservation (SNC) are gradually trying to remedy through education, cooperation and financial incentives.
SNC has been working diligently for 15 years through its Clean Water Committee to correct such issues as cattle polluting watercourses by funding fencing programs to the tune of 50 per cent, with property owners paying the other half. Farmers sit on its Clean Water Committee and serve as field representative in selecting projects and awarding the annual funds.
It’s working. Over those years, dozens of partnerships have been formed between SNC and landowners, leading to various corrective measures including stream fencing, buffer zone installation, and manure runoff containment.
But success requires patience and understanding. For the most part, farmers are frugal creatures of habit who require convincing to make changes in the way they’ve done things for years, sometimes for generations.
That’s why there was widespread shock and dismay when a couple of Environment Canada inspectors based in Burlington showed up several weeks ago at Lyle’s place wielding the big stick.
SNC had never had any dealings with these guys before and received no forewarning of their impending arrival. More amazingly, the regional office of the federal government department normally charged with monitoring watercourses, Fisheries and Oceans, didn’t know this dynamic duo was stirring things up in their territory.
If traveling all the way from Burlington at taxpayer expense isn’t a case of under-worked bureaucrats looking for something to do, I don’t know what is.
Apparently acting on a complaint, they issued an “Inspector’s Direction” threatening hell and damnation if Lyle didn’t deal with the Payne River transgression immediately if not sooner. Invaded by this pair of city slickers, Lyle’s immediate response isn’t printable in a family newspaper.
More specifically, the repetitive four-page order fretted about deposit of “deleterious substances” – that would be livestock manure and urine - in water “frequented by fish” and its potential consequences on those fish and maybe even humans. It demanded action to “counteract, mitigate or remedy” any adverse effects.
In other words, the boys from Burlington want Lyle to prevent deposit of said deleterious substances in the Payne by preventing access by his cows. They were seeking a report on completion of the measures by Oct. 21; failure to comply carries under the Fisheries Act the possibility of a fine for first offence “not exceeding $200,000”. Subsequent offences can bring the same fine, a prison stint of up to six months, or both.
Upon invitation from the SNC Clean Water Committee, Lyle has applied for fencing project funding and it’ll take him a little while to get the job done.
Presumably, that’ll hold off these interlopers who are messing with a tried and true tradition around these parts of moving the environmental agenda forward in a low-key collaborative way.
SNC General Manager Dennis O’Grady hopes to meet with these guys early in the New Year to find out if they plan to be invading his territory on a regular basis. If so, he’ll want to know if there’s a way to work together to make the process less painless for farmers and other landowners he has spent decades developing a working rapport with.
The best answer that could come from them is this: “Ah, we think we’ll stick around Burlington from now on.”
