Bill C-544 (Historical)
An Act to amend the Health of Animals Act and the Meat Inspection Act (slaughter of horses for human consumption)
This bill was last introduced in the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session, which ended in March 2011.
Sponsor
Alex Atamanenko NDP
Introduced as a private member’s bill. (These don’t often become law.)
Status
Introduction and First Reading
(This bill did not become law.)
Elsewhere
All sorts of information on this bill is available at LEGISinfo, provided by the Library of Parliament. You can also read the full text of the bill.
Alex Atamanenko British Columbia Southern Interior, BC
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present three petitions today. The first one is in support of my current Bill C-322, which states that horses are ordinarily kept and treated as sport and companion animals, that they are not raised primarily as food-producing animals and that they are commonly administered drugs that are strictly prohibited from being used in the food chain.
The petitioners, therefore, call upon the House of Commons to adopt legislation based on my previous bill in the last Parliament, Bill C-544, to prohibit the importation and exportation of horses for slaughter for human consumption, as well as horse meat products for human consumption. It is signed by over 200 citizens from the southern Ontario region.
Frank Valeriote Guelph, ON
Mr. Speaker, on behalf of 280 more people in the riding of Guelph, I am presenting a petition calling on the federal government to bring forward and adopt Bill C-544.
The petitioners draw the attention of members of the House to the fact that Canadian horse meat products currently being sold for human consumption in domestic and international markets are likely to contain drugs that are strictly prohibited from being used in all other food-producing animals destined for the human food supply chain.
Thus, to protect the security of our food supply and to protect the health and safety of humans, the petitioners call upon the House to adopt Bill C-544, An Act to amend the Health of Animals Act and the Meat Inspection Act (slaughter of horses for human consumption) to prohibit the importation or exportation of horses, as well as horse meat products, for slaughter for human consumption.
Alex Atamanenko British Columbia Southern Interior, BC
Mr. Speaker, the next petition deals with animal transportation regulations.
The petitioners call upon the House of Commons to amend the animal transportation regulations under Canada's Health of Animals Act to be consistent with the findings of the EU scientific committee on animal health and welfare to reduce transport time for pigs, poultry, horses, cows and lambs to eight hours and twelve hours for cattle, sheep and goats and to ensure adequate enforcement of the regulations.
The last petition calls for support of my bill, Bill C-544, An Act to amend the Health of Animals Act and the Meat Inspection Act (slaughter of horses for human consumption), thus prohibiting the importation or exportation of horses for slaughter for human consumption as well as horse meat products for human consumption.
Frank Valeriote Guelph, ON
Mr. Speaker, the second petition is again on behalf of several hundred constituents in the riding of Guelph and elsewhere.
It is calling on the federal government to bring forward and adopt Bill C-544. I and the petition signatories draw to the attention of the members of the House the fact that Canadian horsemeat products currently being sold for human consumption in domestic and international markets commonly contain drugs that are strictly prohibited from being used in all other food-producing animals destined for the human food supply chain.
Thus, for the security of our food supply and to protect the health and safety of humans, the petitioners are calling on the House to adopt Bill C-544, An Act to amend the Health of Animals Act and the Meat Inspection Act (slaughter of horses for human consumption), to prohibit the importation or exportation of horses, as well as horsemeat products from their slaughter for human consumption.
Fin Donnelly New Westminster—Coquitlam, BC
Mr. Speaker, my second petition is in support of Bill C-544, which was introduced by my hon. colleague from British Columbia Southern Interior.
The petitioners say that as Canadian horse meat products currently being sold for human consumption in domestic and international markets are likely to contain prohibited substances, they call upon the House of Commons and Parliament assembled to bring forward and adopt into legislation Bill C-544, An Act to amend the Health of Animals Act and the Meat Inspection Act (slaughter of horses for human consumption), thus prohibiting the importation or exportation of horses for slaughter for human consumption as well as horse meat products for human consumption.
Alex Atamanenko British Columbia Southern Interior, BC
Mr. Speaker, my last petition is in support of my Bill C-544. It states that horses are ordinarily kept and treated as sport and companion animals. They are not raised primarily as food-producing animals. They are commonly administered drugs that are strictly prohibited from being used at any time in all other animals destined for the human food supply. Canadian horsemeat products are currently being sold for human consumption in domestic and international markets and they are likely to contain prohibited substances.
The petitioners call upon the House of Commons and Parliament to bring forward and adopt into legislation Bill C-544, An Act to amend the Health of Animals Act and the Meat Inspection Act (slaughter of horses for human consumption), thus prohibiting the importation or exportation of horses for slaughter for human consumption, as well as horsemeat products for human consumption.
Bill Siksay Burnaby—Douglas, BC
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to table petitions signed by a number of people in the Montreal area who are very concerned about the import and export of horses for slaughter for human consumption.
The petitioners point out that horses in our culture are most often kept for sport and companionship and not raised as food producing animals. This means that they are regularly given drugs that are prohibited from being used in any food producing animal. When such animals are sold for human consumption they are, therefore, likely to contain prohibited substances.
The petitioners call upon Parliament to adopt Bill C-544, An Act to amend the Health of Animals Act and the Meat Inspection Act to ban the import or export of horses for slaughter for human consumption.
Fin Donnelly New Westminster—Coquitlam, BC
Mr. Speaker, I have a petition to support Bill C-544. This deals with horse meat products that are currently being sold for human consumption in domestic and international markets and are likely to contain prohibited substances. The petitioners, who are from the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, are supportive of the bill from the member for British Columbia Southern Interior, Bill C-544.
The petitioners call upon Parliament to adopt into legislation an act that would amend the Health of Animals Act and the Meat Inspection Act, thus prohibiting the importation and exportation of horses for slaughter for human consumption as well as horse meat products for human consumption.
Malcolm Allen Welland, ON
Mr. Speaker, I have a petition on behalf of constituents, not of mine necessarily, but from the Guelph area in central Ontario who are calling upon this Parliament to bring forward Bill C-544, which was introduced by my colleague, the member for British Columbia Southern Interior. It talks about horses as companion animals, not as animals for consumption. Many of us who may live rural or may not live rural have had opportunities to be around horses and know they truly are companion animals and not a resource for consumption.
The petitioners call upon the House to bring forward that bill expeditiously and stop the importation and exportation of horses for slaughter for human consumption.
Claude Gravelle Nickel Belt, ON
Mr. Speaker, I, too, have a petition with dozens of names of Canadians right across the country calling upon the House of Commons and Parliament assembled to bring forward and adopt into legislation Bill C-544, An Act to amend the Health of Animals Act and the Meat Inspection Act (slaughter of horses for human consumption), thus prohibiting the importation or exportation of horses for slaughter for human consumption.