moved for leave to introduce Bill C-349, An Act to establish National Rabies Awareness Day and to provide for the development of a national strategy for combating rabies in Canada.
Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise to introduce an act to establish national rabies awareness day and to develop a national strategy for combatting rabies.
Rabies is a much-feared and equally devastating disease for both animals and humans. Though frequently found in certain animal populations around Canada, rabies poses a particular risk in Canada's northern communities. Changing population patterns and the growing movement of people and animals between the north and the south, combined with influences such as climate change, means a continued and changing threat rabies poses to both northern and southern Canadian communities. In many northern communities, the risk of rabies is added to an ever-present risk posed by feral or semi-feral dog populations.
Canada's remote and rural northern regions do not have regular access to veterinary services that are taken for granted in some parts of the country. The lack of service in remote communities, coupled with the lack of a coordinated rabies prevention strategy in Canada, poses risks not only for people and pets across the country, but also to livestock. This has serious health and economic implications.
Seconded by my colleague, the hon. member for Thunder Bay—Rainy River, I hope this bill will support debate and action on this important public health issue.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)