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The Alberta government will hike trespassing fines in response to last month’s protest by a group of what Premier Jason Kenney is calling “anti-farming militants.”

Kenney made the announcement Thursday at the Jumbo Valley Hutterite Colony near Lethbridge, the same colony that saw its turkey farming operation targeted by animal welfare activists. The farm’s operator co-operated with the protesters, who demanded and were granted a full tour of the barn and left the property with five turkeys, which they said they would deliver to an animal sanctuary.

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No protesters were arrested and no charges have been laid. The RCMP said Thursday the protest is still under investigation.

Kenney said the event was not a legitimate protest but an illegal invasion of private property that constituted the “harassment of law-abiding, hard-working Alberta farmers.”

In response to concerns raised by farmers and rural Albertans, he said the government will amend the province’s Petty Trespass Act to specifically address trespassing on agricultural land, and increase penalties under the act to up to $10,000 for a first offence and $25,000 for a second offence. Repeat offenders could face up to six months in jail.