Environment committee  Thank you, Madam Chair. We moved from managing the program in one way to a different way, because we were looking at how the management of the program was responding to what we were trying to do. We were trying to eradicate CWD from Canada. We were not having any success, and we

Environment committee  Yes. Thank you, Madam Chair. Good afternoon. My name is Jaspinder Komal. I am the executive director of the animal health directorate at CFIA and also the chief veterinary officer. My remarks will be very brief. I appreciate your invitation to be here today and for giving me

Agriculture committee  Yes. A lot has changed since 1977. In 1977 animals mostly travelled by rail. Currently lots of animals travel by trucks, so that has changed. Industry has also adjusted quite a bit. Industry has done a lot of good work. That includes producers, transporters, and everybody else.

Agriculture committee  Yes. We are very well connected. CBSA delivers services on behalf of CFIA. We have an understanding with CBSA. They are very well aware of the truckloads of animals that are moving. Millions and millions of animals move back and forth, especially in western Canada. There is a mec

Agriculture committee  Yes, definitely. We are also working on our side to do innovation, such as the electronic exchange of information with our colleagues at the USDA. We have implemented a pilot in western Canada at four different crossings where we can just exchange electronic signatures. We are wo

Agriculture committee  I think we have done a great amount of consultation and communication. Of course, we can do more. One of the things we are doing is—and I should have actually included it in my response before—we will delay the implementation date for one year after we have the final regulation b

Agriculture committee  There's been a lot of adjustment ever since these regulations were first published in 1977. For example, we had upwards of 400 slaughterhouses across Canada, and I think currently the number of federally registered establishments may be less than 100. That is not to say that anim

Agriculture committee  For this part of the regulations, we are prescribing the time, but we're saying that it's also the outcome. If during the transport time animals become distressed or sick, or if something else happens, the transporter has to assess and maybe reduce the intervals for travelling.

Agriculture committee  And maybe reduce that interval of the time for travelling these animals. Instead of travelling them for 36 hours, if the trucker thinks that animals are getting sick, that the temperature's not very good, or that it's too cold or too hot, they need to make an assessment of how fa

Agriculture committee  Yes, we have heard from all stakeholders including producers. We were at a meeting a couple of weeks ago where we had Atlantic producers. They are concerned about the animals travelling farther and farther, and they are concerned about the distance. As I said previously, however,

Agriculture committee  Yes. We also have the data within CFIA for the travel of these animals, because our inspectors collect that data. We did the analysis of the data, and we think that close to 98% of these shipments will already be compliant with these transport times.

Agriculture committee  It's a very good question. Yes, as I said, the transportation of these animals is a very stressful event for them. Animals in Canada are transported many times in millions of numbers. For young animals, we have a prescribed time, which is very tight, very short, shorter than for

Agriculture committee  In the current regulations, the regulations that were published in 1977, there's no distinction. In the proposed regulations, we have tried to make it clear to the animal handlers or the industry what “compromised” means and what “unfit” means. We have tried to prescribe that in

Agriculture committee  Okay, thank you. I will try to finish it. We have clearly defined the regulations for the unfit and for compromised animals. We have defined the conditions for making them travel if they become compromised or if they're compromised before they're put on a transportation vehicle

Agriculture committee  Thank you for your question. A provision was in fact added to the regulations requiring everyone who looks after these animals to receive training, as stipulated in international standards. From the time they leave the farm, the animals go through many hands: they are loaded on