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Winnipeg Free Press

In defence of facts and farmers

Opinion Jessica Scott-Reid and Kaitlyn Mitchell's recent opinion piece, Canada's horse export trade and the election (Think Tank, April 23) casts Canada's live horse export industry as a national disgrace. However, their article relies heavily on emotionally charged language, exaggerated claims, and misleading portrayals that do little to inform a thoughtful public debate. Their narrative leaves no room for the facts on the ground. As the Senate critic of Bill C-355, An Act to prohibit the export by air of horses for slaughter and to make related amendments to certain Acts, I made it a priority to observe first-hand how the industry works from one end to the other. I met with farmers, feedlot owners, veterinarians, animal transportation experts, exporters, animal rights groups, and more. I visited feedlots to observe the loading process, followed the trucks to the airport, and watched as the horses were loaded into crates and then onto the plane. At every stage, I examined the claims made by animal rights activists and found them riddled with distortions and misrepresentations. For example, Animal Justice repeatedly asserts that horses 'are crammed into wooden crates so tightly they can barely move around or balance during turbulence.' This is categorically false. The spacing provided for each horse not only meets but exceeds the mandatory standards established by the International Air Transport Association. Unlike stalled horses, which are often cross-tied and cannot raise and lower their heads or turn around, export horses have free range of movement within their crates. But the factual misrepresentations go beyond transport conditions. Animal Justice also claimed that I 'refused to allow the bill to be voted on and sent to committee study.' This, too, is categorically false. The timetable of a bill's passage is not determined by any one senator, but by the Senate as a whole. Suggesting otherwise is absurd and betrays a poor understanding of Senate rules. Senate procedure permits any senator who wishes to speak to a bill to do so before it proceeds to a vote. A number of senators had indicated to me their desire to do so and as critic of the bill, I was ready to speak to the bill as soon as these other senators had their opportunity. In actual fact, my speech on Bill C-355 was written last November, and I was looking forward to giving it in order to counter the constant stream of misinformation disseminated by Animal Justice. Regrettably, due to the government's prorogation of Parliament, I now will not have the opportunity to do so. That lost opportunity matters, because the bill's stated intent did not match its content. Bill C-355 claimed to address animal welfare and yet it would have made it illegal to transport horses by air only if their end use was human consumption. The same horses could still have been transported the same way under the same conditions to the same destination for any other purpose. This demonstrates that the legislation was not about animal welfare but rather a tool of animal activists who are ideologically opposed to the human consumption of horse meat. While some may find the idea of raising horses for livestock distasteful, it is a long-standing and common practice both in Canada and around the world. Horse meat is a significant part of the culinary traditions of over one billion people in 77 countries worldwide and is a legitimate part of our agricultural trade. As our current trade challenges have reminded us, we should be strengthening Canadian export markets, not undermining them based on political opportunism and unsound evidence. Senator Donald Plett is Leader of the Opposition in the Canadian Senate, and a senator from Manitoba.