A bill drafted to protect livestock farms from intruders who might spread disease was amended in the Senate yesterday to include anyone who doesn’t respect biosecurity protocol.
“The amendment will make sure that everybody that is on a farm and enters a building or an enclosed place will have to take the same behaviour and the owners of the farm will have to make sure that everybody is complying,” said Senator Pierre Dalphond, who proposed the amendment.
Bill C-275 is a private members bill that would amend the Health of Animals Act to increase fines for those who unlawfully enter livestock barns and processing facilities and act in a manner that might expose animals to disease.
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Dalphond’s amendment, which passed with seven yes votes and six votes no, removes any reference to being on the premises without authorization.
He cited concerns about constitutionality—that the bill may be more about trespassing concerns than biosecurity. Trespassing falls under provincial jurisdiction. He also said that, according to expert witnesses, the risk of farm workers spreading disease was far greater than that of trespassers.
Senator Don Plett called the amendment “unnecessary and, in fact, very harmful.”
“At this point, producers still do not have the tools necessary to ensure compliance with these protocols,” Plett said. “They can enforce the protocols with their employees, family members and visitors, but they are helpless in one key area and one area only, individuals who come onto the farm without authorization.”
He took issue with the Senate amending a bill passed by the House of Commons with support from multiple parties. He accused opponents of the bill of attempting to delay the bill so it would die on the order paper—particularly if an election is called.
An bill amended in the Senate must return to the House of Commons to be debated again.
Animal advocacy group Animal Justice, in an emailed newsletter, celebrated the amendment as a “giant nail in the coffin of this dangerous proposed law.”
The organization said a similar bill (Bill C-205) died out after a similar amendment in 2021.
“When the bill was amended to focus on poor biosecurity practices on the farm owners and operators, it lost popularity and died when an election was called,” wrote Animal Justice executive director Camille Labchuk.
