Chair, what I want to bring up, of course, is that no one condones cruelty to animals. Animals must be treated in a humane way, whether that be on farms, in transport from farms to processing facilities, or at processing facilities. I don't think any MP sitting around this table would condone cruelty to animals.
But I think it's important, too, to underline that the vast majority of producers and processors transport livestock safely. Sure, a few need to do better, but the majority do so and are very responsible. Of course, not only is it ethical and not only is it important to treat animals humanely, but it's also just good business sense. If livestock is injured or livestock dies in transport, this goes against the business model of everybody who's involved in that value chain. So in a sense, there's a driving force behind this, aside from the ethics of it and aside from the good judgment of it, and that's just the business case that supports treating animals in a humane way as well.
I do want to point out, Chair, that very recently our government has given to the CFIA the tools it needs to impose tougher fines to improve animal welfare. If there is a case of an animal not being treated properly, if its welfare is taken for granted, then there are fines that can be imposed by CFIA. We have more than doubled the fines. The previous limit was $4,000. That was set by the Liberals. We've more than doubled it to $10,000. So I think, Chair, that's a very good step in the right direction. As well, we've extended the amount of time that CFIA can consider multiple offences--from three years to five years.
So again, CFIA has more tools at its disposal to actually enforce good animal welfare practice. These are changes that were just passed recently. In fact, stakeholders have recognized that these are good changes. If I remember correctly, I think the opposition may have recognized that these in fact were good changes that were made.
I'll end my comments there for now, Chair. I do want to underscore that, sure, it's an important issue, but I have not heard of widespread problems regarding animal welfare, and there has been recent action taken by the government to give more tools to CFIA to act in cases where animal welfare is at risk.