Mr. Speaker, I have the honour of rising in the House to table petition e-7108, signed by over 15,000 Canadians, including 14,000 Quebeckers, who condemn the fact that the Liberals still do not understand that state and religion are separate matters and that they should not provide financial support for kosher and halal ritual slaughter practices.
The petitioners point out that section 141 of the safe food for Canadians regulations requires that all animals be rendered unconscious so that they are unconscious at the time of bleeding. However, the ritual slaughter methods in question require the animal to be conscious at the time of bleeding, which causes unnecessary suffering and violates the obligation to ensure the humane treatment of animals.
These citizens criticize the government for providing financial assistance to slaughterhouses wishing to bring their operations into line with kosher and halal standards, and point out that favouring companies on religious grounds constitutes discrimination and violates the principle of the separation of religion and state and the principle of state secularism.
The petitioners are asking the Government of Canada to stop financially incentivizing halal and kosher practices; to maintain the requirement to stun animals before bleeding them, with no exceptions; and until this is done, to require meat from animals that were slaughtered without being stunned or according to religious norms to be labelled with the method of slaughter.