A Conservative MP introduced a bill to disrupt the practices of animal activists wanting to stop animal agriculture using strict anti-trespassing regulations..According to Blacklock’s Reporter, Conservative MP John Barlow (Foothills, AB) said six-figure fines and jail time are necessary to stop groups whose “sole goal is to end animal agriculture.”.“Animal activists have become even more brazen to the point where they are endangering the lives of animals on farms, and in some cases, the public and the livelihood of our farmers,” MP Barlow testified at the Commons Agriculture committee. .“We have seen an animal activist hang dead pig carcasses from a Montréal overpass. We heard of a hog farmer in Ontario targeted by ransomware.”.“We have to understand these groups are fundraising tens of millions of dollars off these events,” said Barlow. .“They are filming it, they are fundraising off it. There has to be teeth to this, which makes it a deterrent for these groups.”.Bill C-275 An Act to Amend the Health of Animals Act would ban unauthorized entry to any “building or other enclosed place in which animals are kept” under threat of $250,000 fines and two years in jail. Barlow said animal rights groups that “encourage this unlawful behaviour” would be subject to $500,000 fines..“A $50,000 to $250,000 fine and possible jail time: Does that not seem like awfully tough punishment for documenting instances of animal abuse?” asked New Democrat MP Gord Johns (Courtenay-Alberni, BC). .“The whistleblower is there lawfully and would not be included in this legislation,” replied Barlow. .“This is about someone who is there unlawfully.”.“Would the bill apply to other enclosures that have been the target of animal welfare protests, such as slaughterhouses, rodeos, zoos or animals being transported?” asked Johns. .“Yes, it would,” replied Barlow..No animal rights groups have testified on the bill. One group, Mercy for Animals, in 2018 had CTV News broadcast video of birds “left to drown in their own excrement or die of thirst or starvation” at a poultry farm in Abbotsford, BC. The British Columbia Egg Marketing Board later revoked the farm’s license..In 2017, CTV showed a video of workers punching, beating, and kicking cows at Chilliwack Cattle Sales Ltd. in BC..Six workers admitted to breaking the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. Three of them were sent to jail..“There are bad apples,” Liberal MP Francis Drouin (Glengarry-Prescott, ON), parliamentary secretary for agriculture, said on Thursday. .“I mean, the majority of them are fine, but there are bad apples which taint the entire industry unfortunately.”.“There are already trespassing laws,” said Drouin. .“We don’t have jurisdiction on that. As soon as we touch trespassing in federal jurisdiction that bill could be challenged in court and rendered unconstitutional. That’s what I am worried about.”
