moved that Bill S-22, an act to provide for the recognition of the Canadian Horse as the national horse of Canada, be read the second time and referred to a committee.
Mr. Speaker, it is with great honour that I rise to sponsor in the House of Commons this bill that has already received tremendous support in the other place. This is the third time around for me and I would like to thank those hon. colleagues who have worked with me to get Bill S-22 to where it is today.
The history of Canada is incomplete without the recognition of the role played by the Canadian horse. That is why today I ask the House to bestow on the Canadian horse an honour long overdue: its recognition as the national horse of Canada.
To many of us who grew up in the age of the automobile, it is easy to see a horse as just an elegant animal we pass on a drive through the countryside. Some of us have even ridden them for pleasure. As kids in Holstein, around the farm we had horses that we rode all the time.
These days, though, it is really hard to imagine the vital role that they played in the lives of our ancestors who first settled this nation. When we drive through the countryside we see huge tractors, combines and farm machinery. It is hard to visualize the day when there were multiple horse hitches pulling ploughs and binders and running treadmills that ran threshing machines. This was the history of the Canadian horse.
Confederation and later events that brought together the provinces of Canada remind us that the railway was built to unite this country from sea to sea. For more than two centuries prior to Confederation the Canadian horse played a role as least as important, if not more so. No other animal has worked so hard with our ancestors to build this country. Arriving first in New France from 1647 to 1670 from the stables of Louis XIV, they were instrumental to the success of the colony. They cleared the land. They ploughed the fields. They were ridden between remote communities. They pulled sleighs in the wintertime. They eased trade with New England and they themselves actually became a commodity of trade.
To the inhabitants, the Canadian horse was like family. In fact, history records that in 1757 when the settlers ran desperately low on food, the colonial officials told them to butcher the horses and eat them. The people were absolutely horrified. “We cannot eat our friends” they said. Such was the relationship between the colonists and their animals. Quite frankly it was a relationship of survival in the early days of this country.
At the time of the conquest in 1760, there were an estimated 12,750 horses in New France, descended from the original horses sent over by Louis XIV. As other parts of Canada were opened up, the Canadian horse also played a role in Ontario, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Manitoba. For instance, I have read the different history accounts within Ontario of the surveyors Rankin and Trainer, who surveyed the townships of Grey, Bruce, Huron, Wellington and on down into that area at the edge of Toronto into the regions of Peel and Dufferin. These horses were used to move supplies through very dense wooded areas in Ontario. They were able to help with the surveys that laid out the lots for the farms, which we see now as all open land as we drive through the countryside of Ontario, for instance. That was not the case when the Canadian horse first came to Canada.
They worked the fields of upper Canada. As I said, where I live in Grey county they helped the surveyors with their supplies. They also carried settlers westward to the Red River Valley of Manitoba. They hauled supply wagons across the prairies on the great march west. They were part of the Hudson's Bay Company overland transport system to Fort Edmonton. They later carried the North West Mounted Police to Fort Steele, British Columbia.
In short, they have had such an impact on the history of Canada that it seems to me mind-boggling that we have not done this before. They are definitely the national horse of Canada.
They have also been an ideal horse in battle because of their endurance. The Canadian horse carried our troops in the war of 1812 and again nearly a century later in the Boer war. Indeed, its ability in battle almost led to its extinction in the 19th century, when vast numbers were exported to the cavalry for the American civil war and after that the Indian wars. The Americans knew a good horse when they saw one.
We recognize this noble breed in the historic paintings of Cornelius Krieghoff, in the illustration of the rural life of Canada more than a century ago. This horse has left a lasting mark on our history.
The Canadian horse is a breed that has been developed here in Canada and has adapted itself to Canadian conditions. Its ancestors, primarily from Normandy and Brittany, in turn have ancestors that are Andalusians, Percherons, Clydesdales and other European horses.
Here in Canada it developed unique traits that remained virtually unchanged through the centuries. The cruel winters, the shortages of barns, hunger and the forces of natural selection led to the development of the shorter, sturdy breed with short ears and a thick mane. This hardy horse with almost infinite endurance is often called “the little iron horse”. It is a gentle natured, hard working, loyal and intelligent breed. In fact, that pretty well describes a Canadian. Our gentle nature is one of the values we as a country hold dear.
A story has been told of a wood merchant from Pennsylvania who bought a Canadian horse and harnessed it to the same pole as another horse 200 pounds heavier. According to the 1914 Breeders Gazette of Chicago, the Canadian always held up his end and never seemed to tire. Two years later, when the heavier horse died, the driver explained “that Canadian horse, he just worked him to death”. Another heavier horse was teamed with the Canadian and a year later it too died. The Canadian just kept on working.
That is something like the pioneers of this country. They put in probably close to 20 hours a day forming this great country of ours. They knew the merits of hard work, as the Canadian horse did, and these people worked side by each.
Historian and breeder Alex Hayward once commented on this horse's versatility and claimed that Canadian horses can do just about anything but dance. He was quickly straightened out by a girl from Guelph, Ontario, who wrote to him to say that her Canadian horses can in fact dance. I am not exactly sure what type of dance they do, but I will not dispute the fact that her horses do in fact dance.
Today it is a multi-purpose breed that can be used for work and pleasure. Its greatness, courage and endurance make it ideal for trail riding. Within my riding of Dufferin--Peel--Wellington--Grey, there are a number of breeders and they are very proud of this horse. It is a very smart horse to look at, with very clean lines. As I said, it is what we as Canadians hold very true.
Canadians were also the foundation stock for other breeds that are very prominent in our equine industry. For instance they are part of the base breeds for the Morgans, the standardbreds, the Tennessee walking horse and the American saddlebreds. All of them claim Canadian ancestry.
These were the horses that took the Americans through their conflict of the 1860s, the American civil war and the Indian wars after that. The pony express used some of these breeds as the United States opened up. It just goes to show that not only did the horse open up Canada, but the Americans used the same horse to open up their own nation.
Its numbers reached a peak of about 150,000 by the middle of the 19th century. Despite that, the American civil war took an enormous toll. Crossbreeding also reduced the numbers of the purebred Canadian horse and threatened it with extinction. Efforts have been made throughout the first half of the 20th century to restore the breed but again in the late 1970s the number of registered animals fell to less than 400.
Twice the Canadian horse almost came close to extinction. Twice it has rebounded, thanks to the dedication of the breeders in all parts of the country. I like to think it shows the resilience we have as Canadians and as a country when on the world stage we are looked upon by other countries as the builders of bridges and not fortification in our reputation as great peacekeepers.
Today there are more than 3,000 registered Canadian horses. It is no longer considered a rare breed. The federal government played a leading role in restoring this breed in the first half of the 20th century. A breeding farm was established at Cap-Rouge, Quebec in 1913. Many of today's Canadians can trace their ancestry to that federal effort. The program continued later at Saint-Joachim until 1940.
Breeders from across Canada tell me that national recognition will help raise the profile of the Canadian horse and will ensure its continued survival. I agree with them. This includes many breeders from Quebec where the breed was first developed. Quebec is home to about two-thirds of the horses today.
From Mission, B.C., Roxanne Salinas wrote to say:
I have raised horses for over 30 years, mostly Arabians, but it is only in the last few years that I learned of the Canadian horse. It saddens me to think that for so many years I knew nothing of its existence, and I hope that your national horse bill will help to change this for others. We need symbols of strength in this country. The Canadian horse is the perfect symbol--proud, strong and enduring--not a victim of his environment, but a true survivor and a hero.
A letter from Quebec said:
Thank you so much for your time and efforts in this cause. A truly Canadian symbol, the little iron horse.
From my own riding of Dufferin--Peel--Wellington--Grey, Brenda Pantling of Orton wrote:
One advantage to having the Canadian horse made a symbol of Canada...is the opportunity to use it as a tool when teaching Canadian history. What better way to interest young people in our history than to wrap it all up with a beautiful horse?
The Canadian horse is a symbol that can unite Canadians from one end of our country to the other. I note that breeders in Quebec and Ontario often work closely with their counterparts in British Columbia and Alberta. We cannot underestimate the importance of the symbols of our identity as Canadians. We recognize both officially and unofficially such animals as the beaver, the loon and the Canada goose. Our provinces recognize provincial flowers. Nationally we recognize the maple leaf.
It struck me that our other animal symbols are wild and indigenous to Canada. The Canadian horse by contrast is domesticated. As befitting a country of immigrants, it came from abroad and adapted itself to the harsh Canadian conditions. It is unique as a breed having been developed in this country. Our country also is unique.
Symbols draw on a nation's history. Just as the beaver was a source of the country's early trade, the Canadian horse was the engine of agriculture and on the land, a primary means of transportation. As a farmer today, I am proud of our agricultural heritage and the role of farming in Canada's development.
Canada would not be unique in recognizing a national horse. Peru recognizes the Paso and Mexico recognizes the Azteca for example.
Our choice of a national horse would be uniquely Canadian. No other horse can seriously make a competing claim as a Canadian symbol. As much as we acknowledge the local importance of the Newfoundland pony, I have had no opposition from the breeders of other horses. Instead, like Roxanne Salinas, the Arabian breeder I mentioned earlier, they offer encouragement, knowing that this is a boost to the equine industry as a whole.
This is my third attempt to get this bill passed. A former hon. colleague noted my determination and suggested that I might just have a little Canadian horse blood in me too. Maybe I have farmed too long and that is where the stubbornness comes from, but I think this is a very important piece of legislation. Members can form their own opinions.
I hope that at last my timing is right. Next week marks the start of the Chinese lunar new year which appropriately is the year of the horse.