Agriculture committee  Thank you very much.

Agriculture committee  I have another question, Lynn, if you don't mind. I'm sorry. It's a short time. In addition, we're talking right now about symptoms of a root problem that is caused, it seems, by a lot of structural issues. What has been brought up was the lack of rest stations—as we heard, there's only one in the east-west corridor, in Thunder Bay—and the concentration of slaughterhouses.

Agriculture committee  Thank you. Thank you to all the witnesses for being here. This is an important discussion because we're dealing with the health and well-being of not only the drivers of these animal transports and the other people on the road but also the animals, even though we're not dealing specifically with the length of time that animals....

Agriculture committee  Do you work with CFIA as well when you detect an outbreak?

Agriculture committee  Thank you. Have you ever heard of or had any of the avian influenza passed on to your flocks, or others that you've heard of, from trespassers?

Agriculture committee  You adhere to very high security measures, but you've never had an instance or heard of an instance when trespassers have actually brought any of these diseases into the farm.

Agriculture committee  Thank you, Chair. I just want to follow up with the issue of the backyard flocks that you were talking about, Ms. Lockwood. You mentioned that disease had been transmitted through those backyard flocks. Is that correct?

Agriculture committee  It never came onto your farm. You never had a problem with it.

Agriculture committee  I want to go to Mr. Joly for a minute. It sounds like a lot of the avian influenza does come from wild birds. How do you think the research work you're doing in coordination with the provinces—I know they have jurisdiction over a lot of this—is helping to curb that?

Agriculture committee  Yes, I do want to speak to that. The penalties for individuals are applicable to each individual who trespasses, in this case, or who violates the provisions in this private member's bill. It's not simply the $25,000. If there are more people there, each of them would be subject to that fine.

Agriculture committee  I had read that, and I had understood that it was there as well, but I don't believe that this offence is.... In my mind, the way this is written right now, this is a trespass offence. Those fines are for actual biosecurity violations. If there was a posting on a wall already that there was a biosecurity event, and someone went in when they saw the notice and they weren't supposed to go in, that would be different, in my mind.

Agriculture committee  Yes, I would. I've submitted it. What I would like to do is amend the section of the act that deals with the penalties for contravention of the act. You can see the amendment in front of you. It basically reduces the—

Agriculture committee  Thank you. They are two separate amendments. I separated them because I thought one might have a chance of getting passed and the other probably not, but I think they're both appropriate amendments to make, because with the bill the way it is reading right now, in my mind, given testimony and actually the discussion from the member who put forward this private member's bill, this is really about making sure animal activists do not trespass onto farm property.

Agriculture committee  I just want to point out to Mr. Steinley that the title of the act, the Health of Animals Act, does not have a parenthesis behind it that says “biosecurity of animals”. It just says “Health of Animals Act”.

Agriculture committee  Before we vote, I just want to summarize it and say that it's pretty clear from the discussion we've heard that the way this bill is being presented right now.... Even though the title references biosecurity, there's no reference to biosecurity in the actual text of the bill. The amendment proposed by my colleague would actually introduce biosecurity into the bill.