I'm wondering if these conversations came up in the Senate examination of this bill. Unlike Elizabeth May, I don't know if three hours in the House of Commons—the elected chamber—is enough to properly scrutinize the bill, notwithstanding that the Senate has done a thorough job. I'm not disputing that.
I am a little bit concerned that we're going to have three hours to examine this bill with witnesses without hearing from the minister, or without hearing from other people who we would normally hear from in a legislative process. I'm just trying to figure this out as the best I can in the time I have.
We have people who are willing to pay money to see animals in a national park. National parks have a mandate to protect and preserve species, even in captivity. If the legislation that we have before us today actually applied to elk, bison or anything like that, it would be a very different scenario, where zoos would have to apply for permits and apply for things that they would otherwise be able to do as a matter of normal business. No one's questioning the integrity of a zoo or no one's questioning the integrity of a national park, yet we're questioning the integrity of these other organizations that are providing entertainment. I'll get to my point about that as well.
When I took my family to go whale-watching once, we paid several hundred dollars apiece for the privilege of going out and taking a look at a whale in the wild. If I were to take my family to SeaWorld or something like that if I'm on a holiday, my family would have the same experience without actually disturbing any animals in the wild for a fraction of that cost. Children attending schools that would want to go to these things would be able to attend at a fraction of the cost if there happened to be one in the area.
Have any of these things been brought up in the Senate? What has the response been from those who want to defend this bill?