Thank you very much, Chair.
I formally move NDP-1 as an amendment to clause 1 of the bill.
Essentially, it's a very simple change to line 6 on page 1. It would remove the phrase “without lawful authority or excuse” so that the new line 6 would read, “No person shall”.
My reasoning behind this amendment is that we want to ensure that this piece of legislation stays firmly within the boundaries of being a biosecurity bill. The fact is that we have had multiple witnesses before this committee who demonstrably showed with clear evidence that many of the biosecurity failures on farms were the result of people who were there with lawful authority or excuse.
We need to change this bill so that the provisions within it and the overall amendment to the Health of Animals Act ensure that the provisions apply to everyone equally. We had a lot of testimony backing that up. I think we're all very familiar with it. We've all had the opportunity to review the Hansard testimony from the witnesses, so I think my reasoning is fairly clear.
I'll end it there and allow others to join the discussion.