QUESTION PERIOD — Agriculture and Agri-Food
Live Horse Exports
March 24, 2026
Senator Moreau, the Canadian values — that term we all treasure — are taken to slaughter every time a cargo craft leaves Canada transporting live horses in wooden crates, several in each crate, with more than 24 hours spent in each crate without food or water or protection from harm brought to them by fellow traumatized horses.
In a recent one-year time frame, 9 horses were dead after transport, 29 horses collapsed on flights and nearly 300 horses suffered serious injuries or illnesses, including gouged eyes, wounds, missing ears, dislocated joints and bleeding lacerations. It goes on and on. This is not about agriculture; it’s about shaming Canadian culture. Over 80% of Canadians are horrified. In Alberta, opposition is close to 90%.
When will the Prime Minister regulate this butchering of Canadian values into the Dark Ages, where it belongs?
Thank you for the question, Senator Adler. You know that the question is an ongoing one since Bill C-355 was proposed. But Canada has strict laws and regulations in place governing the humane transport of animals, including horses, and the government expects those rules to be fully respected.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s officials are present at the airport for every horse export shipment to verify that animals are fit to travel and that transport conditions meet Canadian requirements.
I have this information because the agency you’re talking about isn’t doing its job, quite frankly. Senator Moreau, can you ensure that the Prime Minister gets this question put to him personally? If you wish, I will try to overcome my shyness and deliver it to him personally, face to face.
I would like to remind senators also that when one senator is standing, everyone else is sitting. When I’m standing, also all senators should be sitting. So I’m just going to ask Senator Adler to please take your seat.
Thank you for your generosity, Senator Adler. As I said, we have very strong regulations concerning the transportation of live animals, including horses. I will certainly bring your concern to the minister and to make sure that the agency — I have no reason to think that the agency is not doing its job properly as far as that regulation is concerned. But I will raise the question with the minister.
