News and Reports

In May, Justice and Legislative Affairs has been centred around Bill C-16, the Protecting Victims Act, which has been undergoing review at the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights since April 29th.

Committee discussions focused on many amendments that were deemed out of scope, but among those that were passed was the expansion of proposed Criminal Code provisions so that threats or violence against animals known to the victim—not limited to those owned or controlled by the victim—may be considered within relevant offences. This indicates an increased awareness and understanding among parliamentarians about how animals can also be victimized in relationship violence, made most evident with specific comments made by NDP MP Leah Gazan and MP Anthony Housefather.

Unfortunately, an amendment to include animal torture and abuse material put forward by the Conservative party under Committee Vice-Chair MP Larry Brock was deemed to be out of scope for this bill. Humane Canada will continue to work with government to include this emerging form of violence in other forthcoming legislation, using a recently completed study on the issue of the use of animal abuse in online violent extremist groups and the Winnipeg crush case as evidence that this type of material proliferates on the Internet with no regulatory means of controlling it.

Bill C-16 has been reprinted to reflect the amended version and presented to the House of Commons for third reading. We are now urging Members of Parliament to move this bill forward. Should you wish to get involved, you can send a letter to your Member of Parliament through our campaign link below.