Agriculture committee  Thank you, honourable member. Quite quickly, I would say that it would be a challenge for the CFIA at two levels. First, as I say, the type of training that you're looking for in investigating a potential situation related to a trespass is an entirely different set of skills th

Agriculture committee  I would echo to a large degree what Scott said. We talked earlier about lessons learned. One lesson everyone should learn when you're talking about infectious diseases is that you never say “never” and you never say “always”. That's the reality of the species interaction with var

Agriculture committee  Henry, did you want to start on that one?

Agriculture committee  The point I would come back to again is the facts we have talked about. There are multiple pathways by which diseases can be introduced onto the farm, and it's not always through direct contact with the animals. When we talk about other enclosures for animals, such as abattoirs o

Agriculture committee  —when diseases break out. The linkage of those biosecurity elements allows the rest of the world to continue to trade with you at a much more restricted level.

Agriculture committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Agriculture committee  Very briefly, I would state that it has to be borne in mind that the Health of Animals Act and its relative enforcement relate to a subset of diseases. It talks about reportable diseases. Canada benefits from a framework whereby agriculture is a jurisdiction shared between the fe

Agriculture committee  Thank you for your question. Thank you very much for the line of inquiry. I can't provide, off the top of my head, a statistical analysis of where activist activity on a farm has resulted in consequences without penetrating to the livestock-holding or poultry-holding area where

Agriculture committee  Thank you again, honourable member. I would make two points. One, as has been referenced by a number of witnesses today and previously, is that part of the answer is in the issue of education and information. Again, I think there are those with deliberate intent who, regardless

Agriculture committee  Very briefly, I would say that if we're talking about a disease or situation evolving on a farm that's been compromised because of an intrusion, the investigation of that type of disease outbreak is significantly different from the investigation of a natural disease outbreak. The

Agriculture committee  Thank you for the question. I think it offers a number of insights. Certainly, as Scott has touched on, the reality of disease emergence is constantly changing, and it's emerging on an ongoing basis. We see up to five new diseases emerge every year, and 60% of those have an anim

Agriculture committee  I thank you for the question. From my perspective, speaking from my collective experience, I think anything that allows for the application or the implementation of accepted standards in written protocols and can be auditable in terms of maintaining flock or herd health is to ev

Agriculture committee  Certainly. Today, Dr. Ceelen and I would be pleased to speak to our local, national and international expertise in animal health, especially as it pertains to the mandate and activities of the CVMA and the role of Canadian veterinarians in on-farm biosecurity. We trust the testi

Agriculture committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair and good day to all the members of the committee. I am Dr. Brian Evans, as the chair has indicated. I am the current treasurer of the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association. As such, I also serve as an ex officio member of the CVMA executive and the CVMA co