Mr. Speaker, I have a petition signed by dozens of Vancouver residents, many in Vancouver Kingsway, who are concerned about the shipment of illegal whale meat through Canadian ports. It has been discovered this happened last year.
Since 1972, Canada has banned commercial whaling in Canadian waters and Canada is signatory to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species which has listed the fin whale and other endangered whales under the category requiring the highest level of protection against commercial trade.
The petitioners are calling upon the Canadian government to join with the U.S. and Germany to take concrete action to prevent the trade of endangered whale meat in our respective territories and for Canada to be an international leader in protecting all endangered species.