Government of Canada Invest in Animal Health
Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz announced that the Government of Canada is investing up to $2 million to prevent and contain animal diseases.
The funding for the Canadian Animal Health Coalition for the West Hawk Lake Zoning Initiative will help to monitor the movement of animals and agricultural products between eastern and western Canada.
The West Hawk Lake facility will shift from a successful pilot project to a 24/7 fully operational facility with the ability to track and control movement in case of an emergency where response time is critical. This project is considered a control point on the only major highway and railways connecting eastern and western Canada, near the Manitoba/Ontario border. The West Hawk Lake Zoning Initiative provides th e capability to contain an outbreak in one of the two zones. This will ensure, in the unlikely event of a disease outbreak, that product from the other zone is safe and ready for consumption in domestic and international markets.
“Every day dozens of trucks roll through this area to deliver products Canadians put in their grocery carts,” said Greg Rickford, Member of Parliament for Kenora. “West Hawk Lake is proud to serve as an important safeguard for the health and welfare of our food supply and our livestock industry.”
Funding for this initiative comes from the Government of Canada’s Canadian Integrated Food Safety Initiative, under Growing Forward, which focuses on assisting the sector to respond to growing consumer demands for improved food safety on the farm and to equip the sector to manage risks proactively.
