Jewish groups have filed a discrimination lawsuit against Canadian meat inspectors over new guidelines they say will threaten the production of kosher meats in Canada, according to Blacklock’s Reporter. “Since the [Canadian Food Inspection] Agency (CFIA) has begun to actively enforce the Guidelines, it has progressively shut down and is well underway to effectively prohibit the performance of shechita (the ritual slaughter of cattle) and the access to kosher meat produced in Canada,” said the applicants’ lawyers in a letter to the Federal Court of Canada. Under the new guidelines, the lawyers said kosher processing has fallen 89%. Jewish groups had spent one year pleading with Justice Canada to acknowledge the new policy was discriminatory. The lawyers said freedom of religion “does not require citizens to change or abandon their religious beliefs or their religious laws in order to feed themselves.”“Respect for religiously prescribed dietary laws is one of the keystones of Jewish practice,” they said. “These laws include restrictions on the species of animals that may be eaten and the manner of slaughter.”The CFIA began strict enforcement of the guidelines in June. No reason was given. The dispute arose over determining the exact moment of unconsciousness for animals prior to processing. Since inspection was so strict, the lawyers said kosher processing fell from 1,750 head of cattle weekly to fewer than 200. They added kosher veal production in Canada has ceased. “Guidelines are discriminatory in effect because they burden the exercise of the Jewish faith by imposing conditions upon the slaughter of kosher meat that cannot be reasonably complied with and that holds shechita to a higher standard of animal welfare than other forms of slaughter permitted by law,” they said. “There is no reasonable justification for the Guidelines.”The CFIA has not filed a defence. Applicants in the case included the Jewish Community Council of Montreal, Canadian kosher meat certification board Kashruth Council of Canada and three others in the kosher meat trade. The applicants asked the Federal Court quash the guidelines as a breach of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Four Canadian abattoirs produce kosher meats — Viandes Forget Limited in Terrebonne, QC; Montpak International in Saint-Germain-de-Grantham, QC; and Viandes Valleyfield and Viande Richelieu Incorporated in Massueville, QC. Without accomodations, the lawyers said kosher production has fallen sharply and will disappear from the Canadian landscape.
