Environmental Credentials 

My name is Ray Wegner.  I am a genuine naturalist, and environmentalist. The real thing. This is not some phony label I wear. If you have never lived it - then how can one have any credibility when one speaks on a subject, and how can you expect others to take you seriously ?

I grew up in rural north-central Alberta on a farm. This was in the Tawatinaw area. My Dad owned a half section of land, and when he passed on, it became my responsibility. My connection with that area and land runs for about 35 consecutive years. 

When I was small there were a lot more trees in north-central Alberta. This is parkland, and consisted primarily of aspen forests, but there is a scattering of spruce and some muskeg, and some Jack Pines. I witnessed the tremendous deforestation in that part of the country, which was done almost exclusively by farmers clearing the land for agriculture. They would hire someone to bulldoze their " bush ", and this was done in winter when the ground was frozen. Then when the windrows of bulldozed trees were dry enough the farmers would set them ablaze. I can still recall the eerie glow from the fires at night. 

This deforestation went on for many years, until basically most of the really fertile land had been cleared. Marginal land quite often escaped the bulldozer. Actually in north-central Alberta the really fertile black soil has pretty well been mostly all cleared of aspen forests over the generations - this is especially so around places like Morinville, Westlock, Barrhead, Linaria, Jarvie, and other communities where there are large stretches of very fertile black soil. There has been less clearing of marginal land, and in the Tawatinaw area there is more marginal land, so therefore less of an incentive for farmers to clear such land. In fact in some of them parts, and towards the Clyde area there are a lot of sand hills with Jack Pines growing,  and most of this sandy soil is really very unsuitable for farming. 

Farm credit organizations had a policy of encouraging the development of property, rather than just buying more bush quarters. So it was easier for farmers to get loans to bulldoze trees. It was government policy. 

Now in Canada such bulldozing has been labeled as progress, opening up the land and clearing the bush. In Brazil many Canadians will call the very same practices as destructive, and something to be stopped. Yet nothing has been done here in Canada, and specifically in Alberta to halt the destruction of the aspen forests. It has continued on relentlessly for generations. 

For some strange reason I happened to develop a love for the trees, and did not view them as enemies to be vanquished. Yes I did cut some down, and actually cleared a few acres by myself, but it really didn't amount to anything.  Of the 320 acres on the property about 140 acres was treed, and the rest of the land used for agricultural purposes.

Due to backward government agricultural policies farmers are very often forced to produce, produce and produce. As well many farmers are carrying a heavy load of debt, and are literally forced (due to finances) to squeeze as much out of the land as possible.  Through backward government policies too many farmers have been transformed from good stewards of the land, into miners of the soil and robbers of soil fertility. Governments must therefore (in my judgment) take the lions share of the responsibility for the loss of soil fertility on Canada's farms, and for the crisis down on the farm. 

Backward, crazy government policies can destroy a people and their country. Foolish agricultural policies can lead to the deterioration of soil fertility. It can lead to the plundering and rape of the land and soil fertility. Stupid policies can lead to the destruction of the forests, which in turn can lead to droughts and soil erosion. This has been happening  particularly in the province of Alberta where I live, and was born and grew up in. 

Stupid government agricultural policies are directly responsible for the current Mad Cow crisis in Canada, and particularly in Alberta. Why have governments allowed ground up animal parts to be consumed by cattle ? Cattle are not carnivores. They are herbivores. Yet the government has allowed cattle to be fed to cattle. As a result the cattle industry especially here in Alberta has been devastated, because the USA market for cattle was basically shut down, due to Mad Cow being discovered in two cows from Alberta. 

We used to say in our little rural community that if the government tells you to farm in a certain way - then the best thing was to do the opposite. To illustrate -  starting in around the mid 1960's, and into the 1970's and 1980's government policy was to encourage specialization in agriculture, and encourage bigger farms. Those many small mixed farms were regarded as rather obsolete, and backward. The policy was to get rid of the little guys. Encourage farmers to buy their neighbour out, and of course you need to go deeper into debt as a result. Then you are forced onto a production treadmill, because you have to pay back the bank loan. The land is mined as a result, and the land suffers. 

Now in the late 1990's and early 2000's the governments have changed their tune, and say it is better to have mixed farming. They now say there are too many farmers who are too specialized, and have too many of their eggs in one basket. 

First these donkeys tell you to specialize, and then 20 or so years later (after their stupid policy of agricultural specialization has failed) they tell you to go back into mixed farming !

Wise, sound government policy that is administered justly, can literally cause a people and their country to flourish and bloom. That is what we desperately need here in Canada, and especially in the agricultural sector. 

When I took over that property at Tawatinaw the soil was so worn out that I couldn't grow a decent crop. There was also considerable soil erosion. It takes a long time to rebuild the land. I had to fill in the eroded gullies - fill in the washouts.  Also seeded grass and legumes, and left the land in hay for quite a few years. This also served to eliminate the soil erosion which was very serious. This cultural practice really improved the soil fertility.

I protected the trees, and soil. My farm abounded with wildlife. I dammed up the one little pond there was on the property, and this resulted in this pond getting bigger, and not drying up as it used to. This resulted in there being a resident population of ducks on the pond, and naturally a supply of water for wildlife. 

There was an amazing diversity of wildlife on that property and I'll just give you a list of those I can recall at the moment: blue jay, chickadee, downy woodpecker, hairy woodpecker, pileated woodpecker (see picture), ruffed grouse, sharp tailed grouse, mallards, coot, ruddy duck, sora, snipe, killdeer, sparrow hawk, marsh hawk, red-tailed hawk, crow, warblers, peewee, kingbird, flycatcher, swallow, robin, rabbit, porcupine, woodchuck, gopher, red squirrel, skunk, weasel, coyote, white tailed deer, chipmunk, mice, voles, pin tailed duck, waxwing, and a lot of others - but I can't remember everyone right now.

In winter some animals would move onto the property like moose, evening grosbeak, snow buntings, snowy owls, longspurs, butcher bird and others.

And at times certain creatures passed through (but I did not have any evidence they actually lived there very long) these were creatures like black bear, lynx, wolf, badger, Canada geese, redpolls, and other migratory birds. 

This is just a partial list. 

Additionally the old house on the farm had a lot of character, and personality. It was my home, but also home to some very interesting boarders, and guests. They were my friends. Sometimes annoying. Sometimes fun, but always interesting. 

I am a genuine naturalist.  This is not a phony label I wear. I lived with and gained a tremendous respect for the creatures that shared that piece of God's green earth with me. It was their home too. They could survive where I couldn't. I had to go to the city to work, so I could pay my bills, but these guys made all of their living right there on the land. Tough, resourceful, resilient, wise, and humble. God takes care of the creatures - they don't need us to survive - as long as we don't destroy their homes. We can all live together - I did it.

Anyways the old house on the farm wasn't just a place for me to sleep, but a home for an assortment of interesting wild animals. There was a hole in the living room floor, caused by the old floor caving in a bit. This hole led to the cellar. There was then another hole from the cellar to the outside. My cat could go from the outside to the inside without me having to open the door. Other animals could also use this entrance and exit.

One morning I was dozing in my bed, and there sticking his head through the hole was a skunk. Fortunately he didn't decide to move in !  Skunks are real gentlemen, if you respect them. One lived under the old house in winter, and would venture out during warm spells in winter. 

In the attic lived a red squirrel, who really livened up the place with his chattering. A very happy little creature, if you just leave him alone to mind his own business. Sometimes this squirrel would leap among the tender leaves of the caragana out of sheer joy. 

One winter a muskrat decided to take up residence in the cellar. He would come out at night and wonder about the house at times. Sometimes digging into my garbage of peelings and leftovers at night when I was sleeping. He was not very happy with the draft of cold air that seeped in from the crack under the front door. A couple of mornings I awoke to find dirt from the cellar piled up neatly under the door, and plugging the crack, and the door was hard to open. 

He would sometimes come out when I was up. He would wonder about. If he felt threatened in anyway he would make a mad dash for the hole. Sometimes I'd deliberately pretend to chase him, and at those times he would rush towards the hole and shoot right into it. 

He became sort of a pest (and was giving my cat a hard time), so in the spring I caught him and took him to the pond on the farm. His fate is unknown. Perhaps he became a meal for a coyote. 

There was a feral cat that lived with me. She would mysteriously disappear in the spring, not to be seen again until the first cold winds of autumn started to blow. Then just like clockwork there she was. Where she went in summer was a complete mystery. She was a wild cat. No one else could pet her. When people would visit me the cat would disappear into the cellar, and would not appear until the people left. I lived alone and had few human visitors, but plenty of animals friends and visitors. 

The cat had put her trust in me. She was dependent upon me for a winter home. She had decided to make friends with me.  What happened to this very loyal friend of mine is completely my own fault. I am still ashamed of this today, because I betrayed someone's trust. I was very, very short of money. It was winter and I was getting hungry. I got a job in Edmonton, and forgot about the cat. Forgot to install a heater, in the old house, so the cat could manage while I was gone. She did have dry cat food, but there was a severe cold spell, and I never got out to the farm for awhile. When I did get out the cat was quite sick. She just had enough strength to leap up to the window sill, where she must have been sitting in the frigid house trying to soak up some heat from the winter sun. The muskrat was living in the cellar, and there appeared to have been some trouble between her and the muskrat. So the cat died.

When living close to nature one is always confronted with death. Unfortunately there were (in my judgment) too many times when innocent creatures ended up suffering due to my negligence. 

Death is an ever present reality when living close to nature. Mankind divorced from nature becomes cold and unfeeling. If people are separated from nature they too often fail to realize how short and precious life is. I was constantly confronted with death when living out in the country. It makes one think deep thoughts, and think about why we are really here. 

And yes a person has to eat. One time I shot this rabbit, and it was still alive when I picked it up. It gave out such a terrible scream, and a person just can't help but feel sorry for the poor little beast. Yet I still cooked her for dinner. 

One time there was this woodchuck, who decided to make my combine her home. Now co-existence is fine, but there are limits. I couldn't afford to have her make a nest inside the combine, or chew up the belts. So I shot her. When shot she gave out such a terrible, pitiful scream that it just made me so sad for her. But sometimes these things have to be done. 

One winter I was starving again, so I got another job in Edmonton. I would come home on the weekends, and fire up the stove in the kitchen. As soon as I cooked some meat this weasel would appear. The weasel had completely cleaned out all the mice in the old house. Better than a cat for sure. I'd toss him some pieces of meat, which he enjoyed a lot. These animals are short lived. One day the weasel just wasn't there anymore. 

There was also a shrew that moved into the old house. I had a job in Edmonton in the meat packing plant. Some of the smaller meat pieces would sometimes get stuck in the treads of my boots. The shrew would really enjoy digging out that meat from the sole of the boots, with its pointed little snout. Very active and interesting little beasts. 

I had made some money in the city and moved back to the farm to spend it (farming very often is a nonprofit adventure).

There was a deer mouse in the house - just one mouse. So I figured what harm can one mouse cause ? So I turned the mouse into a pet. One of her favorite foods was peanuts. She would take the peanuts from my fingers. One of her favorite places to hide the peanuts was in my boot. These mice are amazingly agile. She could climb right up the broom handle. They are also quite attractive little animals. 

Well what happened it that my friendly mouse must have invited in her relatives, and mice have a lot of relatives. Soon there were mice everywhere. Mice come out at night, and there are certain peaks to their activity. The mice would keep me awake with their scampering in the attic, and in the walls. They would squeak and play all night long it seemed. One morning I got up and opened up the cupboard drawer, and there was my favorite mouse in among the spoons and other utensils. Co-existence is fine, but there are limits. I killed her on the spot, and immediately began a campaign of extermination of the mice. Oh how I longed that another weasel or shrew would take up their abode with me.

Deer mice are interesting animals, but you can get sicknesses from these animals. I do not recommend anyone live with these kind of mice.  They will take over, and they are dirty, and are always chewing on things. Get a cat, if you don't want to trap, or poison them. 

The old house was on its last legs. Parts of it began to just cave in, especially due to the fact that I often lived in the city, and the old house sat empty and without heat during some winters. When I moved back from the city I lived in the part that was still livable, and blocked off the other part. A mother woodchuck, decided to move in and lived in the cellar - in the part of the old house that was basically unlivable. She would carry mouthfuls of grass to her nest, and babies. Yes she had babies. There were about four or five of them. You learn a lot about animals, if you respect them. We are all here for just a short while. Why make it harder for these creatures than they have it already ?  They want to live too you know. 

Anyways one day I was able to play with and actually pet the baby woodchucks. Mother must have found out. Shortly afterwards the woodchuck family was gone. Where they went is a mystery. 

I also did my share of hunting, but was never a poacher even though there were all kinds of opportunities to be one.  There was a lot of poaching going on. 

One day I was out hunting ruffed grouse, during hunting season of course and with a valid grouse hunting license. Ruffed grouse are a real challenge, and you need to sort of stalk them. Well I was walking through this thick stand of poplars and there ahead were two ruffed grouse. The one grouse did not see me, and was perched on a stump. The other grouse did see me, and immediately began giving warning signals to the other one.  It was fluttering its wings and feathers, and clearly trying very hard to explain to the one sitting on the stump that there was danger present. However, the bird on the stump did not see me, and did not respond quickly, and was just looking at the other bird that was giving out the warning signals. Well I was able to shoot the one on the stump, but was really impressed with the intelligence, and caring attitude of the other bird. 

Due to the very difficult social environment in the country I simply moved on for health reasons. Farming in Alberta is one of the toughest occupations you can come across. Don't ever mess with a farmer. They are tough, resourceful, innovative and hard working. However, I moved on because our rulers have totally messed up the agricultural sector, with their idiotic, backward policies. People are social creatures. There are more suicides per capita in rural Alberta than in urban areas. There is more family stress and marriage breakdown due to all the difficulties people face. Many women won't marry a farmer. The job is dangerous, and often unhealthy. There are a lot of accidents with machinery, dangerous animals to deal with,  and there are all kinds of hazards from all the chemicals farmers use nowadays. This is on top of the cost - price squeeze. If you don't have the needed social support systems - farming can be hell. I lived in rural Alberta for 35 years. Right now in 2005, it is often better to live in the city. It is better for your health and for your social life. 

I am not some jet setting environmentalist, who preaches about conservation while living a life of luxury. 

2. We have a composter in the back yard here in Calgary.

3. We have worms in a large plastic container in the furnace room. These worms feed on the vegetable scraps, and peelings, and egg shells, and other vegetable wastes. They help build up soil. 

4. We recycle cans, plastic containers, newspapers, and so on. It isn't really that difficult. 

5. We plant a garden in our backyard, and always have tons of flowers. 

6. I have cycled to work regularly, when my job has been within reasonable cycling distance. 

7. My children used walk back and forth to school, but have now finished school a few years ago.

8. I toke the bus back and forth to work for over 5 years straight (this was a regular three hour commute each day - 1½ hours to work in the morning and 1½  hours back home in the evening), but purchased a car in the spring of 2007. 

9. We do own a vehicle, but it is used for essentials like getting back and forth to work, shopping etc.  Have used Calgary Transit for well over 5 years straight in my daily commute back and forth to work - this commute usually took about 3 hours per day. So I have paid my dues to the environment - we now have a vehicle. 

10. We are very keen and active environmentalists. We have had a family pass to the Calgary Zoo for years, but I have let it lapse this year due to costs.

11. We really enjoy the wonderful parks here in Calgary

12. I and my daughters are familiar with the many, and varied trees, plants, animals and birds here

13. I have worked for a good number of years in the meat processing sector, and have seen first hand how cruel the factory farming system can be to livestock. 

14. I have seen first hand how factory farming causes a tremendous amount of suffering for domestic animals when they are in transit to the slaughter house, particularly in winter. The mortality rate in transit (especially in winter) is quite high. This is wasteful, and cruel. 

Worked for about 7 months on the kill line in a poultry processing plant, also worked at another packing plant on the hog kill line. At the poultry processing plant this was specifically in the live hanging area. This is where the live birds are taken from their cages on the truck, and hung by their feet on metal shackles, which are attached to a chain. It is a sort of assembly line system, and each worker does only one job, and the work is brought to them. It is more efficient that way. We could kill 50,000 chickens in one day - and this was around 20 years ago. 

We would live hang the birds by their feet on metal shackles  - the chain would carry them to a place where they were electrocuted, and then through a blade which would slash their throats. We had a woman who was positioned right after this process on the line who would slash the throats of any birds that somehow, had escaped being properly killed. The place was awash in blood. 

Then the now dead birds were carried through hot water, which would soften up their feathers. The chain then carried them through a defeathering machine, which has many stubby rubber type fingers, which whirl around rapidly - these take off the feathers. They also then passed through a flame which burned off the very fine feathers. 

Then the birds went into the area where they were further processed, by being gutted, inspected, lungs removed, gizzards and livers removed, cleaned and so on - there are all kinds of different jobs on the kill line. Companies are always trying to see how the work can be automated, or done by machines, but you just cannot eliminate workers from the process, because there will always be some jobs, which simply cannot be done by machines. 

Then the birds would go through a large tank of cold water - to wash them, and to remove any body heat. Then they would be later on dumped into huge stainless steel bins, which would have a sort of ice (which looks more like granular snow) put on the top, and the bins placed in a refrigerated storage room, where they would await further processing. 

I worked in the packaging department for about 3 ½ years, and also on the kill line in the live hanging department for around 7 months straight. 

I often joked with the workers there - that after working on the kill line, and specifically with the live hanging crew - I could live through a nuclear war - or anything. 

I saw enough blood and suffering to last a life time. The screaming and squawking from the suffering animals was deafening. 

Sometimes the line would go very fast, and sometimes you just couldn't help it - you only got the bird hung on the shackle by one foot. The bird would then twist around on the shackle, and  naturally seriously damage its leg. I once saw a turkey hung by only one leg, and it was in incredible pain, since it had been struggling wildly, and had twisted its leg so badly that the leg was just shattered and twisted, but it still hung to the line. 

In winter there was often a large number dead birds when we opened the crates. We would drop the dead birds on the floor, and pick them up after the truck was unloaded. It was called counting the dead. One guy would yell out after the truck was unloaded - " okay lets count the dead. "  His job was to tally the number of dead, and he would come around and ask how many dead each guy had counted.  Something like counting the dead in a battlefield - and we had lots of blood and guts all around us, and we were full of manure too. We would toss the dead birds in a huge bin. Sometimes in very cold wintry weather the bins would be overflowing with dead birds - thousands and thousands. 

The problem was especially serious with molting birds. Leghorn hens are mostly used for egg production. When the hens start molting (losing many of their old feathers and growing new ones) the producer would ship them. This is because egg production falls off during the molt, and the birds are also now getting older. So they are usually sent to slaughter. They can be quite bare. If they are shipped in very cold weather - these birds do not have enough feather protection from the cold - especially on the truck in a cage and with the truck speeding along at 65 miles per hour. The trucks do have tarps around them in very cold weather, but still the wind sometimes gets through - and the trips often take many hours. 

Sometimes almost half of the load of birds were dead - as a result of exposure to the cold. It is especially serious when you get temperatures in the -30 degree range. I noticed that mortality was quite a bit higher from loads that had been transported from far distances. Birds coming from farms close by had far fewer deaths caused by exposure to the cold winds during trucking, and you could see the birds were in much better condition. Turkeys are pretty tough, and very rarely do you find a turkey dying from cold during transport. We once had a load of live turkeys shipped all the way from Ontario to Alberta. 

The test I used when live hanging a bird that looked frozen, or dead - was to shake it a bit. If the bird still had a bit of life left in them - if they moved ever so slightly, or opened their eyes a bit - you would hang them up on the shackles. It is amazing the incredible cruelty of this system - where animals are subject to so much pain and suffering. To have to endure long transport in extremely cold weather - all stressed out.  Here is an animal that is all dirty, often covered in manure, totally stressed out, freezing, and maybe half dead - yet it still gets hung up by its feet to suffer some more until it is finally killed. So if there was still a small spark of life left in the bird you hung it up, but If it was dead, you dropped it onto the floor. 

In the summer we would find birds dead due to the heat.  Especially on the very top shelf of crates. This was where the hot sun would blaze down, and heat up that top layer of trays. If the truckers stops over someplace for too long during the very hot weather - the sun beats down on the top of the metal and it gets real hot in that the top layer. The birds are stuffed in trays. Then at the plant you just pull open the tray and pull the birds out. 

When live hanging it is impossible to prevent some birds from escaping when you open the tray to hang them. Some birds would fly out and usually drop on the floor. After the load was done, and the truck moved - we would round up these loose birds. Unfortunately when the truck is moved out - sometimes some birds get run over - it is almost inevitable. I would often hear a pop when the truck's tire rolled over a chicken. Sometimes the tire would only run over the birds leg. In that case you would grab it, toss it up to the guy on the platform, and he would hang it up.  

One time we had one of our Supervisors there when the truck had been moved out, and we were rounding up the loose birds, and counting the dead. There was this one bird that had been run over, by the tire, its whole leg was smashed. However, it was still alive, but fading quickly. The supervisor saw it. I was walking near by. He motioned for me to get the bird, and pass it to one of the live hangers on the platform. So I grabbed it - with its crushed leg and passed it up, and it was hung on the line by both legs.  The incredible pain and suffering. 

Once when we were live hanging - a bird escaped from my tray. We were working on the very top. It flew onto the top of the truck, and just stood there. I yelled at it, sarcastically naturally, for it to escape. Escape I said - look there is the open door - run for your life - go fly down and run through the door and get out of here !  It did not move. It just stood there.  One other guy was standing there. He said that chickens don't know what death means. 

There is a place for factory farming, but we should try harder to reduce the animal suffering and cruelty. We need more farms where animals live and grow in a natural environment, and where they do not have to suffer so much during slaughter. There is no way we will ever be able to eliminate the suffering of animals during slaughter. That is after all the reason why we grow them - to eat them. Dying is never pleasant. However, we can as a society - do much more to reduce the pain and suffering of innocent animals during slaughter. 

15. I am opposed to the wholesale export of unprocessed nonrenewable natural resources particularly that of natural gas and crude oil. 

16. I have a couple of hunting rifles (a 30:30 and a .22) and have hunted in the past, and plan to hunt in the future. Most hunters are quite aware of the need for habitat protection, so wildlife can flourish and I'm no different. 

These are my credentials as a naturalist and environmentalist. Hopefully you will realize I am the real thing. 

Guarantee of Rights and Freedoms and Fundamental Freedoms (from the Canadian Constitution)  " The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the rights and freedoms set out in it subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society. Everyone has the following fundamental freedoms: (a) freedom of conscience and religion; (b) freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication; (c) freedom of peaceful assembly; and (d) freedom of association. "

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