Moved the adoption of the report.

He said: Honourable senators, I have the honour to present the fourteenth report of the Standing Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry, which deals with Bill C-275, An Act to amend the Health of Animals Act (biosecurity on farms).

We had seven meetings, totalling almost 10 hours, during discussion of this bill. We heard from 23 witnesses, had one meeting for clause-by-clause consideration and received 11 written briefs.

I would like to add that, by comparison, the other place only held three committee meetings on this bill.

We heard from animal activist groups, vaccine and infectious diseases specialists, veterinary experts, legal experts, farmers, ranchers, producers, processors and government representatives.

Colleagues, there has been support both for and opposition to this bill.

We also heard twice from the sponsor of the bill from the other place, M.P. John Barlow, once during our first meeting and again at our last meeting.

During clause-by-clause consideration of the bill, government representatives were present to answer any last-minute questions from committee members.

Mr. Joseph Melaschenko, Senior Counsel, Agriculture and Food Inspection Legal Services, was the representative from Justice Canada who attended our clause-by-clause meeting.

Senator Dalphond tabled one amendment, which was adopted. He amended page 1, by replacing line 6 with “9.1 No person shall . . .”

According to Senator Dalphond, this amendment was proposed based on two concerns. The first was that compliance may be exceeding federal jurisdiction. The second was to ensure that every person on a farm, in a building or an enclosed place on farm property will have to comply with biosecurity protocols and that the owners of the farm will have to ensure this.

The amendment was then debated, and concerns were raised that farmers might find it difficult to enforce biosecurity protocols with non-authorized individuals on their farm.

It was also noted that a similar amendment was proposed and defeated in the other place in the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food. During the discussion on the amendment, it was noted that amending a bill at this stage will, in all likelihood, kill the bill, as it will cause an unnecessary delay; the bill could die on the Order Paper if amended.

After debate, the amendment was voted on and adopted with seven yeas and six nays.

The committee then discussed Senator Dalphond’s observation, which stated that:

The committee recognizes the importance of biosecurity on farms and observes that, according to evidence from a representative of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, compliance with biosecurity protocols is currently voluntary. The committee observes that the Governor-in-Council has the authority to make obligatory regulations to protect biosecurity on farms under Section 64 of the Health of Animals Act. The committee urged the Governor-in-Council to develop and implement effective regulations on this subject.

The observation passed with eight yeas and five nays.

I would like to conclude by thanking the Library of Parliament analysts, the clerk and all committee staff for their diligent work throughout this study.

I would also like to thank my many Standing Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry colleagues for their hard work and perseverance throughout the study of our bill, including the ones who joined the committee only for clause-by-clause consideration. I hope that your interest in agriculture continues to grow and that you come back to hear the excellent testimony from witnesses throughout the entire value chain.

Thank you to all my honourable colleagues for listening to me today and continuing to support Canadian agriculture.

Thank you, meegwetch.