Justice committee  As legislators, I think any piece of the puzzle we can improve.... There are many moving parts, with Bill C-78 and the Divorce Act being one, as is administrative justice reform, which you have already looked at, and Bill C-75 and moving forward with that are all a series of parts to improving the criminal justice system and the administration of justice.

Justice committee  I think it's open for the committee to study that. My understanding is that there is always potential to rehabilitate a dog in a way that doesn't exist with a rooster.

Justice committee  The distinction there is because of that. Certainly if the committee wants to look at that as part of its study and has suggestions in that regard, we would be open to that.

Justice committee  It was undertaken before my watch began in this role, so I can't go into all of the details of the way people and groups were consulted, but I can say that we consulted the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies, the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association and the Canadian Federation of Agriculture representing 200,000 Canadian farm families.

Justice committee  Certainly clarity was given on the definitions, the definition of both bestiality and also the fighting provisions. Clarity was given to groups to differentiate the term “baiting”, for example, which doesn't mean baiting for the purpose of fishing, angling or other activities, but rather as a way to incite an animal to fight.

Justice committee  My immediate priority is the passage of this legislation. The two practices that are identified in this piece of legislation are important to prohibit and define in each respective case. I'm open to discussing other ways forward.

Justice committee  Well, I've just started in this job, and I have to admit that I enjoy the challenge. That said, I'm not going to commit to a particular timeline today. I have, in good faith, said that I'm open to discussing moving forward in the future and to addressing the very concerns that you have raised, some of the deeper ethical considerations that may very well be evolving in society in a way that is more favourable to the positive treatment of animals.

Justice committee  There is a link that has been drawn. There isn't as much data as perhaps there might be, simply because a lot of it is covered up. I will admit to a data gap there, but a link has been drawn with enough credible information to say that it's an important factor. We're also protecting the animals themselves here, too, and these are practices that we simply don't want to have.

Justice committee  There is a traditional distinction between birds and animals that runs through the common law. There is a provision specifically for roosters, for cocks, because sadly they are often very damaged in the fighting, and it is often the case that they're also fed with steroids to make them more aggressive.

Justice committee  The evidence I have seen, I think, is increasingly going in that direction. I'm not an expert. I can only base it on what I read. To the extent that I have seen the same kinds of studies that you have, it seems to me that is where the scientific evidence is going.

Justice committee  That's a larger question, and I think that question needs to be addressed as part of our ongoing look at these provisions generally. We've committed to that. My predecessor committed to that, and I'm happy to commit to the same thing moving forward. I certainly am quite open to reforming all of the provisions generally, but that will take time.

Justice committee  I think it was made clear by my predecessor and I think it was made clear in my opening remarks, that in Bill C-84 we have picked two areas on which there is widespread agreement, and which we could get done now. We are filling a gap in one case, and we are addressing a practice in another case—animal fighting—that we don't want to see.

Justice committee  As my predecessor also stated, we're going to keep moving forward with this dialogue and to try to make our Criminal Code and society better.

Justice committee  I'm not going to speak about a consensus that happened in 2004. I wasn't privy to those discussions. I was, quite frankly, doing other things at the time, so I'm not fully versed on all of those various discussions that happened in 2004. What I will commit to doing is keeping dialogue open with various groups, including a number of the groups you've mentioned.

Justice committee  It is a fair concern to worry about the length of time legislative reform takes. Certainly, I agree with you, and thank you for your question. This is a serious issue. I think the important thing to underscore from the beginning is that we are dealing with it. You are right—I agree with you—that this is a serious issue that needed to be addressed, and we are addressing it.