Agriculture committee  On the question of the nature of the industry, as we heard this morning, there are about four companies that are exporters. They are based in Alberta and Manitoba. Of those exporters, my understanding, mostly from media articles in the Western Producer and other agricultural sources, is that there are about two major breeders that supply those industries and both are in Ontario.

Agriculture committee  Thanks for the opportunity to clarify. The health of animals regulations are not different for different types of exports. My position and the evidence are that, in practice, the way horses are exported for slaughter is different. On the point about refuelling, I have never seen a shipment of horses that has left Canada for Japan that has not refuelled.

Agriculture committee  On the point about the letter's signatories, my understanding is that this is incorrect and many of those signatories do, in fact, have specific expertise when it comes to horses and horse welfare. There are also a number of professors from—I'm just going by memory here—the University of Guelph and other institutions who are themselves animal welfare experts.

Agriculture committee  Well, I don't know enough about the way they're shipped for sporting events to have a position. I do know that they're shipped in much better—

Agriculture committee  I fully support the bill as drafted. That said, I fully supported Senator Dalphond's bill. I think I was quite vocal to that effect at the time he introduced it. I am aware that there are other requirements around paperwork when you are exporting horses. My hope would be that this declaration can fit into the existing scheme without adding too much for the folks we've heard from today, who are exporting horses for other reasons.

Agriculture committee  I've heard this argument come up a few times before at the committee, the slippery slope argument of what's next. I would say this bill is very targeted to one very specific practice. I have seen no evidence to suggest that there is a real risk of a slippery slope here. The bill is really science-based.

Agriculture committee  I'll just quickly repeat what I said earlier, which is that this specific bill will not impact our domestic horse slaughter industry. I've been raising concerns about that industry for years, but I really see this as a completely separate discussion.

Agriculture committee  Absolutely. As you point out, it is a matter that a huge number of Canadians—and polling supports this—are concerned about. You're right that folks in our riding—and I've spoken to many of them—have expressed concerns. My understanding is that this issue also crosses political boundaries.

Agriculture committee  Yes. When the regulations were revised in 2019, there were some improvements. I would probably describe them as modest improvements. We still have some of the worst animal transport standards in the western world. The limit is now 28 hours, not 36. The focus on only that time doesn't address so many other issues for these horses.

Agriculture committee  I think I would have to look at the specific proposal. What I would say is that even based on geography, we're talking about feedlots located—I'm from Manitoba, so I'll focus on Manitoba—at least five hours from the airport. To get horses, dozens if not more than 100 horses at a time, from a feedlot to the Winnipeg airport in all seasons—summer, winter—load them on planes and land them before they cross the ocean to refuel is an incredibly long journey.

Agriculture committee  Unfortunately, we don't know too much. As you point out and as we heard this morning, the CFIA is certainly at the airport. I've reviewed hundreds if not thousands of pages of ATIP request documents that show what we know about them in transport. If, at the end of the journey, the flight lands and a horse is dead or has collapsed and is still down—of course, we don't know if they collapsed before the end—that information is reported back to the CFIA and we review it.

Agriculture committee  I think it's very important to clarify that. I absolutely did not say the standards or laws are different. The law is the same—the health of animals regulations. It's the practice.

Agriculture committee  Absolutely. The health of animals regulations are there.

Agriculture committee  No, I'm not talking about the CFIA's enforcement. What I'm talking about is the way individuals ship these horses. My understanding—and our two witnesses here could probably speak to this—is that whether they ship, say, 100 horses three or four at a time in small wooden crates on one plane for a sporting event....

Agriculture committee  No, Bill C-355 would not impact our domestic horse slaughter industry. It's specifically focused on the export of horses for slaughter overseas.