Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault is denying allegations made by the Saskatchewan government that federal scientists were “trespassing” on farmers’ lands to test water sources.
On Aug. 21, Jeremy Cockrill, Saskatchewan’s minister responsible for water security, took to Twitter, sharing a letter he wrote to Guilbeault that farmers in the Pense, Mossbank, and Pilot Butte areas have “raised concerns about Government of Canada employees, in clearly marked Government of Canada vehicles, trespassing on private lands.”
“When approached by producers, these employees indicated that they were testing water sources for pesticide/nitrate levels,” Cockrill’s letter said.
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe responded to the tweet within minutes, echoing Cockrill’s demand for Guilbeault to explain “why his department is trespassing on private land without the owners’ permission to take water samples from dugouts.”…