Government officials came to the Ste. Rose Community Hall to further explain the changes made to the province’s Crown Land Leasing Program.
The meeting follows an announcement made on Friday that the government would offer current legacy leaseholders, the first right to renewal.
While the ranchers in the room felt the move was in the right direction, it is just one item on the long list of changes that they feel need to still be made.
The concerns that echoed around the room were the ability to complete unit transfers, longer terms, and cheaper rental rates. Under the current format, rental rates are expected to more than triple.
The meeting ended with the government workers promising to bring the concerns of the room, to the provincial Ag Minister.
Dauphin MLA Brad Michaleski also gave a short speech to assure producers that his door is always open to talk about their concerns.
After the meeting, producers had the chance to bring up their individual concerns to the government officials, as well as the MLA.
Dakota Sorenson, a young producer, from Eddystone, is hoping the meeting brings results.
“If they listen, I think it’ll help a lot. There were a lot of good points made, and they tried to answer questions, but there are too many things to work on, to be able to answer all the questions,” said Sorenson. “There needs to be change, more than questions.”
Sorenson added that if he had known of the changes happening to the crown lands program, he wouldn’t have moved away from Saskatchewan.
The head of the Manitoba Crown Lands Leaseholders Association, Brent Benson, said that the meeting went the way he thought it would go.
“I guess it’s what we expected, there are no real concrete changes for sure yet, and there are proposed changes. I guess we heard that there’s maybe a willingness to listen to us and consider other changes we brought forward,” said Benson. “I think they clearly got the message that we are frustrated, and this is a big problem that could severely affect our businesses.”
There is another meeting scheduled for tomorrow night at the Moosehorn Community Hall, near Ashern, from 7- 9 pm.
