Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak in the debate on Motion No. 354 moved by the member for Scarborough Southwest and now amended by the Conservative member for Yorkton—Melville. I am glad this happening. There is a lot of co-operation happening in the House this evening on this important motion.
This speaks well of the ability of members to co-operate and get important work done in this place. We do not hear about that very often these days about Parliament and I am pleased we have had the opportunity to co-operate together to get this issue on the agenda and to make progress toward a universal declaration on animal welfare and Canada's participation in that process.
When the member for Scarborough Southwest began her remarks, she noted that I had on the order paper a very similar motion to her original motion and had agreed to withdraw it so she could use her place in private members' business to see this issue debated. I very happily did that.
It is great that we are able to see this issue debated and I am glad she was able to bring it forward, with the co-operation of her colleagues.
Then this evening the government put forward a proposal that would make the motion something that it would be able to support. We have all heard the proposal, looked at it and agreed this should go forward.
I am glad we have a working motion, an amended motion, to consider here, which seems to have received co-operation from many corners of the House.
I first heard about the universal declaration on animal welfare when I met with representatives from the World Society for the Protection of Animals several years ago. I had not heard about this important initiative prior to that meeting. I was glad to meet with the folks from WSPA and hear about it.
WSPA is one of the world's largest alliances of animal welfare organizations and it continues to grow. Right now it is around 850 member societies in over 150 countries, which is a very significant group of animal welfare organizations.
WSPA and its key partners are acting as the secretariat for the group of steering committee governments championing the initiative in their respective regions of the world. Therefore, WSPA is very involved in the promotion of the universal declaration on animal welfare.
It has many key partners: the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Humane Society International, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and Compassion in World Farming. It also has support from over 300 of WSPA's member societies.
Therefore, a significant group of organizations deal with animal welfare issues around the world that are supporting this initiative and support the activity of WSPA.
The UDAW, as we heard already this evening, is an agreement among nations to recognize that animals are sentient and can suffer, and to respect their welfare and to end animal cruelty. These are all important goals that merit being debated in this place and in other parliaments and assemblies around the world and in other organizations that deal with animal welfare around the world.
The UDAW is proposed to be a non-binding set of basic principles that would encourage all nations to put in place improved animal welfare laws and standards, a set of guidelines and recommendations that we can judge our own efforts in our country and in countries around the world.
It is suggested by the organizers that the final destination for the UDAW is the General Assembly of the United Nations. We have heard this evening that the government takes some issue with that. Our government has taken the position that the United Nations might not be the appropriate venue for this resolution.
That is something we can debate and it merits consideration. The government has made the point that it believes the United Nations should be about human relationships and human activities. I think the people who support the universal declaration on animal welfare will say that the interdependence between animals and humans is so intimate that this is something of direct concern to humanity and should be debated at the world body of this planet.
Therefore, I think this is an argument about which we will hear more. There is nothing in the amended resolution that does not preclude us winning that argument and seeing that the United Nations would be deemed even by our own government as relevant international organization or forum. I look forward to that continuing discussion.
Sentience is defined as the capacity to have feelings and to experience suffering and pleasure. It implies a level of conscious awareness. The recognition of sentience in animals is a crucial bottom line in dealing with animal welfare issues.
Animal welfare discussions are also guided by five freedoms that are stated in the draft of the universal declaration on animal welfare. Those five freedoms are described as freedom from hunger; freedom from thirst and malnutrition; freedom from fear and distress; freedom from physical and thermal discomfort; freedom from pain, injury and disease; and freedom to express normal patterns of behaviour.
I think we can all appreciate why those are all very crucial to the well-being of an animal. Their basic care, their basic needs, the freedom from pain, injury and disease, and the freedom to express their normal pattern of behaviour are all things that make sense. They are very basic freedoms that I think are easy to appreciate.
Going back to the whole issue of the interdependence of animals and human beings, the humane use of animals benefits people. We know this from our experience here in Canada and around the world. People rely on animals for their livelihoods, jobs and food security. We know that responsible animal management provides a positive impact on land use, climate change, pollution, water supplies, habitat conservation and biodiversity.
Our relationship with animals has a direct effect on our environment, and that opens up a whole other argument about the appropriate forum for the discussion of the universal declaration on animal welfare. I would contend that when we think about that appropriate forum, it puts the UN back in the picture.
Proper animal care reduces the risk of diseases transmittable to humans, improves productivity and helps farmers provide food for their communities. That direct link between animals and humans is further extended by those issues of disease transmission, the productivity of our farms, food production, and the need for food security in our communities.
Already a number of countries have supported the development of this initiative and the list of those countries is growing all the time. Back in March, the European Union formally announced its support for the UDAW through the council conclusion endorsed by all 27 EU agriculture members. In 2007, the World Organisation for Animal Health, which represents the chief veterinarians of 69 countries including Canada, voted unanimously in favour of developing a universal declaration on animal welfare.
There is support in many countries and organizations among professionals who deal with animals. I think that it makes sense for us to be discussing this here in the House of Commons in Canada and to be lending our support to the development of this important new international declaration.
We know that here in Canada we have had issues regarding the improvement of our legislation on cruelty to animals. We have debated it. We have tried a number of times to come up with new legislation and to update legislation that dates from two centuries ago. It is very old legislation. Some attempt was made and some of the penalties were updated, but the overall legislation still needs our attention.
We hope that we might find a way to do that here in Parliament and do it effectively. I believe that discussing and achieving a universal declaration on animal welfare will stimulate that further discussion here in Canada and give us cause to judge our attempts by this international declaration. I think that it will put our own efforts in a broader context and also challenge us to do more in the area of preventing animal cruelty and in speaking up for animal welfare in this country.
I am pleased to have had this discussion. I am glad that there seems to be a spirit of cooperation to see that this will move forward in the best possible way. I want to thank the member for Scarborough Southwest again for introducing this and making sure that it got on our agenda here in the House of Commons.