June 24, 2019
It was a big month—three animal protection bills passed through Parliament! It’s now illegal to keep whales and dolphins in captivity, import shark fins, sexually abuse animals, and engage in animal fighting. Peter & Camille update listeners on this exciting legislative news, including why a Toronto Star editorial says Canada still has a long way to go for animal rights. There’s also an update on the Quebec zoo facing criminal animal cruelty charges, and how it lost a fight in court to keep the abused animals.
For our main topic, Camille sits down with Gabriel Wildgen to discuss the fascinating history of campaigns to ban shark fin in Canada. Gabriel is a Harvard law student working with Animal Justice this summer, and previously spent many years campaigning against shark finning with HSI / Canada. From the Toronto City Council shark fin ban and its defeat in court, to a 2013 anti-shark fin bill in Parliament that lost by only six votes, it took many years and a lot of work to finally win a national ban on the shark fin trade. You won’t want to miss this behind-the-scenes look at political advocacy for animals, and how many years of work (and many defeats along the way) can eventually pay off.
This episode’s hero is Parliament (thanks for passing all of these animal protection bills!), and the zero is MP Earl Dreeshen, who recently made the puzzling and false claim that “Canadian ranchers and farmers have the highest standards in the world.” (Reality check: No federal laws govern the on-farm treatment and well-being of animals in Canada.)
As always, use code PAW15 at the checkout to save 15% on your order at our sponsor Grinning Goat, Canada’s vegan fashion boutique!
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Special thanks:
To our producer, Shannon Milling.
To Kevin Lacroix for the podcast logo and for the musical sting in our podcast intro.
To DJ Quads for our intro, transition and outro music.
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