On 21st June 2023, a Bill in the Canadian Parliament aimed at preventing animal rights activists from campaigning to end animal agriculture had its second reading. The bill is attempting to stop activists investigating farms by establishing stricter anti-trespassing regulations.
If it passes, those in breach of the “Bill C-275, An Act to amend the Health of Animals Act (biosecurity on farms)”, which would ban unauthorized entry to any “building or other enclosed place in which animals are kept,” would be fined $250,000 or be sent to two years in jail.
John Barlow MP (Foothills, AB), who introduced the Bill, said to Blacklock’s Reporter that six-figure fines and prison time are necessary to stop groups whose “sole goal is to end animal agriculture.” He said to the Commons Agriculture Committee, “Animal activists have become even more brazen to the point where they are endangering the lives of animals on farms, and in some cases, the public and the livelihood of our farmers…There has to be teeth to this, which makes it a deterrent for these groups.”
In 2018, Mercy for Animals had CTV News broadcast a video of birds “left to drown in their own excrement or die of thirst or starvation” at a poultry farm in Abbotsford, BC, and as a consequence, the British Columbia Egg Marketing Board later revoked the farm’s license. In 2017, CTV showed a video of workers punching, beating, and kicking cows at Chilliwack Cattle Sales Ltd. in BC. As other Ag-Gag bills have been trying in the US, this bill will prevent cases like these, so those who abuse animals on farms and are in breach of regulations can keep doing it without fear of being exposed and prosecuted.
