By Larry Powell Hogwatch Manitoba says a large pig barn in the RM of Yellowhead in the southwest, has been operating illegally since last year. This is the barn in question, 5k east of the village of Strathclair. Photo by Larry Powell. Ruth Pryzer presented Hogwatch’s case to the Yellowhead council this week. She claimed the barn owner, Wim Verbruggen, misled the local government when he applied for a building permit early last year. She says the barn he built was three thousand square feet bigger than he said it would be. And it houses many more animals than the fewer than 300 he claimed it would. The Planning Act which existed at the time, required that a barn such as the one now up and running, have both a “conditional use” hearing and a technical review. Neither of these actually took place. The lack of a hearing meant there was no chance for anyone in the area to express concerns or perhaps of even finding out about it, beforehand!