Agriculture committee  Look, we're here today to talk about—

Agriculture committee  —improving the laws protecting animals. It's undeniable that Canada doesn't have any of those laws on the books right now. When you look at—

Agriculture committee  What do you mean, exactly, by “legal standing”?

Agriculture committee  “Legal standing” is a term of art referring to whether someone has the right to go to court to seek a legal remedy if their rights are being violated. Animals don't currently have any rights. What we would say, as I've repeatedly mentioned to this committee, is that animals curr

Agriculture committee  That's not what I'm saying at all—

Agriculture committee  I'm saying that we're in the country—

Agriculture committee  Animal Justice doesn't advocate on-farm trespassing. What we're here today to say is that we have very poor laws protecting animals, and that fact is what's contributing to this very low public trust in agriculture.

Agriculture committee  Well—

Agriculture committee  What concerns me is that there is low public trust in agriculture. You can look at studies from places like the Centre for Food Integrity, which is an industry organization, that show that people are increasingly concerned about animal welfare on farms—

Agriculture committee  Yes, it does. I'm concerned about the welfare of animals and I'm concerned about the welfare of farmers—

Agriculture committee  Good morning. Thank you for inviting me to appear. I am a lawyer and the executive director of Animal Justice, Canada's leading national animal law advocacy organization. Together with our tens of thousands of supporters, we work to improve laws protecting animals. This is a big

Justice committee  That's right.

Justice committee  That's exactly right, Chair.

Justice committee  To my knowledge, the only other provision that would be of assistance is that a period of probation could include a term that prevents a person from having contact with an animal during that period. I used to be a criminal lawyer, but it has been a few years. I believe that the m

Justice committee  I always think it's appropriate to give judges that discretion. If they think five years, 10 years or a lifetime is appropriate, I think that's right.