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A fourth attempt to modernize Canada’s century-old animal cruelty laws was put down in the House last night.

Liberal backbencher Nathaniel Erskine-Smith was hoping his private member’s bill would be sent to committee for study, but it was defeated 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 his own party caucus.

Bill C-246, the Modernizing Animal Protections Act, was looking to close loopholes in several pieces of legislation, including the Criminal Code and the Fisheries Act. It proposed a ban on importing cat and dog fur and shark fins, and calls for tougher rules on puppy mills and animal fighting. While the horrific practice of shark finning has been illegal in Canada since 1994, imports of fins from other countries continue, with several hundred thousand pounds brought across Canadian borders every year.

In the wake of a Supreme Court decision earlier this year that narrowly defined bestiality as penetration involving a person and animal under the Criminal Code, Erskine-Smith, a lawyer who represents the riding of Beaches-East York, was also looking to expand that to include any sort of sexual activity between people and animals.

“I’m very disappointed that our Parliament didn’t stand up for animals today and refer the bill to committee,” says Barbara Cartwright, CEO of the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies. “Animals are going to continue to be open to sexual abuse, stuck in fighting rings and being neglected — all without enforcement being able to do anything about it because of the way the legislation is written. As the representative for SPCAs and humane societies across the country, it’s a sad day.”

Between 1999 and 2005, identical Criminal Code amendments were passed three times in the House and were studied at length by both House and Senate committees, only to die when Parliament was dissolved.

During consultations, Erskine-Smith spoke to three previous justice ministers and went back through the committee debates of previous iterations of the bill, as well as the concerns expressed in submissions by animal-use groups at the time, and incorporated language from both.

“It’s shocking that the Liberal party seems to have regressed when it comes to animal cruelty issues, instead of moving forward,” says Camille Labchuk, executive director of Animal Justice.

“The government is clearly indicating it’s not willing to take animal issues seriously with this vote. That’s extremely concerning to the many, many animal lovers and compassionate citizens who voted Liberal in the last section on the expectation that they would fix Canada’s broken animal cruelty laws.”

Societal attitudes towards animals are changing, she says, and people are more sensitive to the issue than ever before. In a recent poll, 92 per cent of people said they want to see stronger animal cruelty laws.

“The fact is we can’t continue to treat animals like tables and chairs. Our cruelty laws need to be strong enough to be able to punish people to the full extent of the law when animals are abused,” Labchuk says, noting Canada has what is objectively known as the worst animal cruelty legislation in the western world.

“We’ve been given a ‘D’ on a global animal law report card and frankly that’s appalling for a country that considers itself to be compassionate.”

For his part, Erskine-Smith was disappointed, but not surprised the bill won’t be moving on to committee.

“It’s very difficult to pass legislation when the government has already taken a position. I knew what that position was and I understand the concern that more consultations are required. We’re 12 years from when the agricultural groups supported animal cruelty legislation. We have to get back to that consensus,” he says.

That’s something Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould says she’s committed to as part of the broader criminal justice review her department is engaged in now, which includes a review of the criminal code.

“I appreciate the premise of 246 and have talked with the member that brought it forward and talked with our caucus,” she says. “We all agree animal cruelty is a significant social issue that needs to be addressed. 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.”

That will include consultations with the rural community and with all Canadians who have an interest on both sides of the issue.

“I have to commend the member and the discussion his private members bill brought to this House,” Wilson-Raybould says. “It’s certainly not the end of the conversation by any stretch of the imagination.”

Erskine-Smith is looking to get back to the consensus the justice minister was able to reach back in 2004, when Irwin Cotler had nearly 30 animal-based sector groups behind him, calling for the swift passage of animal cruelty amendments to the Criminal Code.

Now that the minister’s commitment is there, he says the next step is a timeline. The question is when that will occur. As for parts of the bill that weren’t contentious at all, such as the bestiality clause, Erskine-Smith says that’s low-hanging fruit he’d like to see action on sooner rather than later.

Cartwright says they’ll be pressing for answers on that as well.

“(Today) we’ll be on the phone with the Justice Department asking them specifically how they’ll be dealing with the bestiality clause and the fact that only penetration is illegal in Canada at the moment,” she says.

“There are people watching that, people who want to abuse animals as much as they want to abuse children. The direct links between child pornography and animal pornography are coming out more and more. This is not an issue the government can hide from.”

She says the Liberals now have a mandate before them — much earlier than it would have gotten there on its own — and groups like hers are expecting some statement soon on how they plan to deal with this.

“We can’t let it go. The stakes are too high.”

Erskine-Smith agrees.

“If I can see the silver lining in all of this it’s that thousands, if not millions of Canadians spoke up and showed they cared about improving our animal protection laws. The government is committed to taking action because of that overwhelming response,” he says. “It wasn’t a victory for Bill C-246, but that is a victory for animals.”