Tuesday, December 3, 2024

The Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs has the honour to present its

THIRTY-FIRST REPORT

On October 10, 2024, following a ruling by the Speaker, Bill S-15, An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Wild Animal and Plant Protection and Regulation of International and Interprovincial Trade Act, as well as your committee’s twenty-fifth report dealing with that bill, were returned to the committee so that it could make the requisite corrections and present a new report that respects the scope of the bill. Your committee has completed this work and, pursuant to the order of reference of that date, now reports the bill with the following amendments and certain observations:

1.Preamble, page 1:

(a)Replace lines 1 to 7 with the following:

“Whereas Parliament is of the view that certain animals, particularly elephants and great apes, should not be kept in captivity because of the risk of animal cruelty that such captivity presents;”; and

(b)replace line 9 with the following:

“elephants and great apes in captivity may be justified in certain cir-”.

2.Clause 1, pages 2 to 4:

(a)On page 2,

(i)replace line 8 with the following:

“ment in a performance or for conveyance.”, and

(ii)replace line 38 with the following:

“connection with a scientific research program for conservation purposes;”;

(b)on page 3,

(i)replace line 17 with the following:

“search program for conservation purposes; or”,

(ii)replace line 29 with the following:

“search program for conservation purposes; or”, and

(iii)replace line 38 with the following:

“for conservation purposes or in a conservation program.”; and

(c)on page 4, replace lines 4 and 5 with the following:

“great ape means any species of the genus Gorilla, Pan or Pongo, including a gorilla, bonobo, chimpanzee or orangutan. (grand singe)

445.4 (1) The court imposing sentence on a person convicted of an offence under subsection 445.2(2) or (4) or 445.3(1) or discharging the offender under section 730 may, on application of the prosecutor or on its own motion, in addition to any other measure imposed on the offender, order that the offender carry out any action, at the offender’s cost, that is necessary in the best interests of the animal involved in the offence, including

(a) modifying the physical conditions in which the animal is kept;

(b) relocating the animal to another facility or sanctuary;

(c) modifying the social conditions in which the animal is kept; or

(d) forfeiting ownership of the animal and surrendering the animal to an animal welfare authority named in the order.

(2) In determining whether to make an order under subsection (1), the court must ask for and consider expert evidence on the individual animal’s welfare and conservation of its species.

(3) On its own motion or on application of the prosecutor, the court may make an order made under subsection (1) applicable to any other animals in the offender’s possession if those animals are of the same species as or a species closely related to the animal in respect of which the offence was committed.”.

3.Clause 5, pages 5 and 6:

(a)On page 5, replace line 27 with the following:

“(a) in connection with a scientific research program for conservation purposes or with a”; and

(b)on page 6, replace line 10 with the following:

“gram for conservation purposes; or”.

4.New clause 11, page 9: Add the following after line 40:

“Coming into Force

11 This Act comes into force on a day to be fixed by order of the Governor in Council, but that day may not be earlier than the first anniversary of the day on which it receives royal assent.”.

Respectfully submitted,

Observations to the Thirty First Report of the Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs (Bill S-15)

The committee has repeatedly raised concerns that the Criminal Code has been amended in a piecemeal manner for many decades and has become cumbersome, sometimes repetitive or inconsistent, and is in need of comprehensive reform (see, for instance, the committee’s 2017 report Delaying Justice is Denying Justice, at pages 41 to 43). The committee repeats its past recommendation that an independent body should undertake a comprehensive review of the Criminal Code. The newly revived Law Commission of Canada could undertake such a review.