Tired of waiting for the Liberals to close a loophole and redefine bestiality in the Criminal Code, Conservative MP Michelle Rempel has introduced a private member’s bill to do it for them.

The bill comes in the wake of a Supreme Court decision in June 2016, R v. D.L.W., that narrowly defined bestiality as penetration involving a person and an animal under the Code.

In that case, the court upheld the acquittal of a British Columbia man who was charged with bestiality after compelling the family dog to sexually abuse his 16-year-old stepdaughter. Lawyers for the man argued that the 1954 bestiality law only covered penetration of an animal.

The justices agreed, saying it would be inappropriate for courts to expand that definition beyond what was intended by the politicians who drafted the original law. In a statement, Rempel said the court has clearly indicated that this is a legal grey area that can only be corrected by legislation.

“I am disturbed by this highly damaging omission in our law and the fact the government hasn’t acted. I feel like it’s important to put a little opposition heat on the government to get this done,” Rempel said.

“This is a non-partisan issue that is clearly needed to keep both humans and animals safe. The current law is reflective of an archaic understanding of sex.”

She noted the change she’s looking to make reflects the language of the court’s ruling “and frankly is a no-brainer.”

So why the delay?

“The honest answer is I don’t know,” Rempel said, adding that her personal view is that the government hasn’t really had a very focused approach to its justice portfolio.

“Where it clearly needs to act, it’s fallen to the wayside. The Liberals should have introduced legislation to correct this issue immediately after the ruling. Nearly a year and a half later, I hope that tabling this bill will encourage the prime minister to stop dragging his feet and take action to make this common sense change.”

It’s not a complicated issue. It could have been remedied with simple legislation, she added.

“I would be shocked if there was any opposition.”

Further, Rempel said it’s obvious in other areas of legislation that Parliament views sex as an act that extends beyond simple penetration.

Last year, Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, a Toronto-area lawyer, introduced Bill C-246, the Modernizing Animal Protections Act, aimed at closing loopholes in the Criminal Code and the Fisheries Act. Among the changes it proposed was an expansion of the definition of bestiality to include any sort of sexual activity between people and animals.

The bill was put down in the House of Commons on October 5, 2016 by a vote of 84-198. Although the rookie MP had strong support from the NDP and the Bloc, there was little to be found in the Liberal caucus. Rempel was one of only two Conservative MPs to vote in favour of the bill and said at the time it was “a huge loophole we’re going to have to address.”

The defeat was met with disappointment and anger by the many animal advocates who had supported the bill, who said it was a clear indication the government wasn’t willing to take animal issues seriously.

After the defeat, Minister of Justice Jody Wilson-Raybould told iPolitics she appreciated the premise of C-246 and was committed to the issue as part of the broader criminal justice review her department had undertaken.

“We all agree animal cruelty is a significant social issue that needs to be addressed,” she said at the time. “In terms of looking at the animal cruelty provisions in the Code, that’s what I’ve always committed to do and we’re going to follow up on that.”

She noted that would include consultations with the rural community and with all Canadians who have an interest on both sides of the issue.

“It’s certainly not the end of the conversation by any stretch of the imagination.”

However, it’s now been more than a year since the bill’s defeat and a year and a half since the decision in D.L.W. — but there’s been no word from the minister on the issue.

In a statement today in response to a request for comment, David Taylor, director of communications for Wilson-Raybould said the government believes that animal cruelty is “an extremely important social issue that deserves a national conversation.”

He said they are reviewing issues pertaining to animal cruelty provisions, including expanding the definition of bestiality and animal fighting in the Code.

“Comprehensive reform of animal cruelty laws must involve large-scale consultation with all stakeholders, including rural Canadians and those who have concerns about the effect of legislation on legitimate animal uses, such as farming, hunting and fishing,” Taylor said.

“Animal cruelty laws should be balanced and protect animals from deliberate and unnecessary acts of cruelty while not interfering with legitimate animal use, including Indigenous animal harvesting rights. As part of this initiative, we are committed to ongoing consultation with stakeholders and parliamentarians. We look forward to reviewing this private member’s bill as it progresses through Parliament.”

Barbara Cartwright, CEO of the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies, said while her organization is pleased Rempel is taking the lead on the issue, they would have preferred to see the government uphold its commitment to addressing it.

“We have been been waiting for them to do that. The opposition has decided it’s no longer waiting,” she said.

“I think it’s important for people to understand that bestiality is not something that’s rare. In the last four years there have been four major cases moving through the courts of egregious sexual abuse of children and sexual abuse of animals. It’s not uncommon that you see the two of them co-exist. This is an important for the safety of animal and children in our country.”

At the CFHS’ Violence Link Conference in Ottawa last week, Staff Sgt. Carl Sesely, a profiler with the RCMP’s Behavioural Sciences Branch, agreed that fixing this is a no-brainer. It has to be done.

Bestiality is what’s known as a paraphilia, which are conditions where a person’s sexual arousal and gratification depends on fantasizing about and engaging in atypical and extreme sexual behaviour. These often involve children, animals and non-consenting adults — and include exhibitionism, pedophilia, voyeurism, necrophilia.

Paraphilia are usually clustered, which means when someone is exhibiting one behaviour, you’re likely to find more, Sesely said, suggesting that it may serve as an important indicator of future risk of sexual and nonsexual violence.

One 2008 survey of 44,202 adult men, found that a history of bestiality was the single greatest predictor for engaging in future child sexual abuse.

Having worked in the field for nearly 17 years, Sesely sees everything through this lens, but said a lot of people, including in the courts, don’t truly appreciate the behaviour in R. v. D.L.W. for what it is.

“I immediately recognize it as paraphilic behaviour. I know that paraphilic behaviour comes in clusters. He’s already committing the act of bestiality or zoophilia, so there are going to be other paraphilic behaviour that’s he interested in — almost definitely,” Sesely said.

“Voyeurism, exhibitionism, perhaps sadism, pedophilia, those are all things that are going to harm other people one way or another, so that’s where my mind goes. This is just the surface.”

“Basically when I hear something like this, my standard go-to line is: ‘That’s one paraphilia. What are the others? And how far is he going to go to get the sexual gratification he wants.’”

With other cases similar to D.L.W. before the courts, Rempel said she wanted to get her bill out there before Christmas so that the weeks before the House returns can be used to build momentum and support.

“I would love to see the government present legislation when it returns,” she said.

“I don’t know if the House wants to debate bestiality ad nauseam, but if we have to we will.”