Meat Inspection Act  Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin by thanking all of my colleagues who will be supporting my bill, especially those who have taken time today to speak out in favour of it, and also especially the official party support from the leader of the Green Party and the health and agriculture critics of the Liberal Party.

Animal Welfare  Mr. Speaker, keeping our food safe is a basic obligation of government. However, there is no credibility to the claim that horse meat in Canada is safe. Unlike the cattle and pork industry, horses are not raised or inspected from birth in an agriculture industry with an intention to produce food for humans.

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I rise to present two petitions. The first petition is from residents of Rossland, B.C., asking us to refrain from making any changes to the Seeds Act or the Plant Breeders Rights' Act through Bill C-18.

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, the second petition is in support of my bill, Bill C-571 that comes under here as Bill C-322 to prohibit the importation or exportation of horses for slaughter for human consumption, as well as horsemeat products for human consumption.

Canada-Honduras Economic Growth and Prosperity Act  Mr. Speaker, do we apply the same criteria to every country that we deal with? There is trade and then there is free trade. Canada has been a trading nation for many years. We continue to trade with some countries that are dictatorships and countries that violate human rights. But there is the idea of free trade.

Canada-Honduras Economic Growth and Prosperity Act  Mr. Speaker, there always has to be time and we always have to hope. Yes, I believe that the government could look at this agreement and say that it would give them some time to clean up these violations. We could send in a team to observe what is going on, have a look at our companies that are there, and make sure that they are observing the laws of Honduras.

Canada-Honduras Economic Growth and Prosperity Act  Mr. Speaker, I am glad to hear that my hon. colleague is reading the stuff I have put out. That is excellent, and I thank him for that. We have to look at trade agreements as benefiting our country first and foremost, and second, to look at what effect they will have on the countries we deal with.

Canada-Honduras Economic Growth and Prosperity Act  Mr. Speaker, let me be clear. There are three fundamentally important criteria for assessing the merits of trade agreements. First, does the proposed partner respect democracy, human rights, adequate labour and environmental standards, and Canadian values? If there are challenges in these regards, is the partner on a positive trajectory toward these goals?

Meat Inspection Act  Mr. Speaker, I do not have that faith. The former head of one of the slaughterhouses in Saskatchewan that was shut down, said in an interview that he could not see how these horses were being sent to the slaughter. He said there was no control or way of verifying what had been administered to them.

Meat Inspection Act  Mr. Speaker, the beef industry is regulated. Some antibiotics are used but these antibiotics are allowed in the food chain. In the horse slaughter industry, there is a long list of prohibited medications, but as we have already said, those medications are given to horses. There is no control.

Meat Inspection Act  Mr. Speaker, the point is that if once in its lifetime an animal has any of these prohibited substances administered to it, then that meat is no longer fit for human consumption, whether or not it is detectable according to the tests we use. The consensus is that roughly 85% or higher of horses in North America, in both countries, have at some point in their life been administered with these drugs.

Meat Inspection Act  moved that Bill C-571, An Act to amend the Meat Inspection Act and the Safe Food for Canadians Act (slaughter of equines for human consumption), be read the second time and referred to a committee. Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to speak to my Bill C-571 today. I will begin by recognizing and thanking all those Canadians who have written letters, signed petitions, and shared information about the horse slaughter industry with me.

Fair Rail for Grain Farmers Act  Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his very informative speech and also for all the hard work he has done on behalf of farmers over the years he has been in this House. There has been a debate regarding the loss of the Canadian Wheat Board's single-desk status and this catastrophe we are facing today, as we have read in The Western Producer and other newspapers and heard in talking with farmers.

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I would like to present two petitions. The first petition is in support of the bill I introduced in the House, Bill C-322, which would amend the Health of Animals Act and the Meat Inspection Act to prohibit the importation or exportation of horses for slaughter for human consumption and horse meat products for human consumption.

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, in the second petition, petitioners from my community of Nelson are calling on the Government of Canada to work with provincial and territorial governments to increase pension benefits under the Canada and Quebec pension plans, and to implement a fully-funded plan to phase in such an increase without delay.