We would absolutely support that type of approach. I think that having some body to examine these issues from a bird's eye view and to think more holistically about how we can integrate animal welfare and protection issues into many facets of our federal laws, not just the Criminal Code, is very important.
I would also note that it's become clear to me in my work as an animal protection lawyer that we have an issue in this country, in that animal welfare is divided between the federal level and provincial level, and even municipalities have a role. It becomes a situation where there can be a lot of buck passing. A province might say, “Well, that's up to the feds to do,” and the federal government often likes to say, “Well, that's a provincial responsibility.” Sometimes people use that as an excuse to say that a bill might be unconstitutional or it steps outside of its jurisdiction.
I think it's seeing the federal government take a greater leadership role in uniting provinces, in examining what we have at the federal and provincial levels, where the gaps are, where we can coordinate more. How we appropriately fund animal law enforcement is a huge piece of this puzzle. Right now it's largely funded by private donations given to SPCAs and humane societies. Those are all issues that such a committee could examine to the benefit of animals.