The Issues

Campaigns: For a summary of our 2010 campaign work, click here.

Illegal Coyote Killing Contests: In January 2011 two illegal coyote killing contests in the Ottawa area began, Al’s Coyote Contest run by Al’s Corner Store in West Carleton and the Osgoode Township Fish, Game and Conservation Club’s Coyote Contest.  This is the second year the contests have been held despite the fact that the hunts violate the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act.

The Act states:

Section 11(1) Except with the authorization of the Minister, a person shall not,
       (a) hunt for hire, gain or the expectation of gain;
       (b) hire, employ or induce another person to hunt for gain;
       (c) trap for hire, gain or the expectation of gain;
       (d) hire, employ or induce another person to trap for gain; or
       (e) pay or accept a bounty.

Those taking part in the contest are either hunting and trapping or inducing others to hunt and trap for gain because the three prizes, including a Mossberg model 535 shotgun, are being offered as part of the contest.

In 2010, AAEVPC, as part of the Ontario Wildlife Coalition, contacted the Minister on two separate occasions asking her to stop the illegal contests but received no response.

In addition, we had our lawyer, Peter Copeland of DiLuca Copeland Davies LLB Barristers, contact the Minister on two separate occassions seeking a legal remedy to the illegal contests. In Mr. Copeland's December 2010 letter, he wrote the following:

“The Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act creates a comprehensive scheme for the protection of fish and wildlife populations.  If this scheme is to be effective the Ministry must ensure that hunters and trapper respect all of the provisions of the Act. […] Where there is a good basis to believe that a violation of the Act may occur, it is important that the Ministry take steps to either prevent the violation or ensure that proper authorization is obtained from the Minister.  Indeed, it would undermine the system of authorization contemplated by the Act to simply allow an anticipated violation to occur and leave the decision to lay charges to the discretion of the enforcement officers.  In our view the offering of a prize to encourage a coyote cull is contrary to the prohibition on bounties and on hunting for expectation of gain.”

Receiving no clarification from the Minister, Mr. Copeland wrote a second letter in February 2011.

The Minister, who remains behind a wall of silence about the contests, continues to allow coyotes to be demonized and destroyed so that a hunter and trapper can “win a gun”.  The posters, which depict a “wild west shoot ‘em up approach to wildlife”, call into question the City of Ottawa’s reputation as the nation’s capital.  It is particularly upsetting that these contests are happening at a time when nothing has been done to stop the destruction of the Beaver Pond Forest within the South March Highlands, one of the last bastions for large mammals in Ottawa.

Dogs in the Northwest Territories: The Government of the Northwest Territories has revised its 50-year-old Dog Act. Bill 16 is a bill to amend the Dog Act. Bill 16 passed Second Reading November 2, 2010.

We submitted comments on January 14, 2011 to the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Infractructure. One proposed amendment prevents bylaw and RCMP officers from investigating and laying animal cruelty charges for “generally accepted local or traditional practices of dog care, use and management”. Many people and a number of organizations have written to the Committee in support of having any loopholes in the amendments removed. Click here to read our submission.

Thanks to the hard work of many people, particularly Hay River resident and animal advocate Bonnie Dawson, history has been made in the NWT.

On May 15, 2011, the new Northwest Territories Dog Act came into effect. Confirmation by way of an email received on May 18, 2011 from MACA Minister Robert McLeod's office states: "The amendments to the Dog Act are in force effective May 15, 2011."

While this new Dog Act pertains only to dogs in the NWT, it is a victory, it is historical. The NWT has never had an Act protecting the dogs. The original Act protected HUMANS from Dogs.

This is the FIRST step towards the Comprehensive Animal Protection Act needed and work towards achieving that goal will continue. For more information, visit: http://giftofloki.wordpress.com/2011/05/23/history-has-been-made-in-the-northwest-territories-canada

Elk in Ontario: The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (OMNR) is proposing a hunt of a tiny population of 467 elk in the Bancroft/North Hastings area, not far from Algonquin Park.

Historically, elk were widespread across North America. But by the 1800s, human settlement and overhunting caused the eastern elk to be totally wiped out. The OMNR undertook an elk restoration programme and 10 years ago released 443 western elk from Elk Island National Park in Alberta to four locations in Ontario.

Of the 443, 104 were released in Lake of the Woods, 47 in Lake Huron North Shore, 172 in Nipissing/French River and 120 in Bancroft/North Hastings. Only the Bancroft/North Hastings herds which have increased from 120 in 2000 to 467 in 2010 are under fire.

Because of intense pressure from hunting and agricultural interests, the OMNR staff are proposing a hunt of the tiny Bancroft/North Hastings elk population. OMNR staff argue that the Bancroft/North Hastings population can sustain a hunt, even though under any other circumstances these elk would be considered endangered. In addition, OMNR staff will consider allowing farmers to hire agents to shoot any elk who are damaging agricultural property.

Six notices, all pertaining to the management of these elk, are posted on the Environmental Bill of Rights (EBR) Registry. The deadline for comment on all six postings was October 14, 2010. To urge the OMNR to protect the elk from the hunting lobby letters from supporters poured in to the Minister's office. As well, a report was prepared by a number of groups, including AAEVPC, in response to the EBR listings. Click here for the report.

Farm Animals:

In 2001, Animal Alliance of Canada and the Animal Protection Fund released a study, prepared by Canadian lawyers, entitled Anything Goes - An Overview of Canada's Legal Approach to Animals on Factory Farms. Anything Goes debunks the common notion that animals raised for food are treated "humanely" and exposes abusive and often horrendous practices that are becoming increasingly common across the country. Animals raised in intensive confinement live entirely unnatural lives marked by stress, fear, pain, isolation and a variety of surgical mutilations.

Click here to download Anything Goes.

Transport: Canada's present animal transportation regulations are so extreme that they cannot be labelled anything but cruel and inhumane. The transport regulation timelines are now – 57 hours of continuous transport for cows and 36 hours for pigs – without food, water or rest. Our political party has joined with other animal protection organizations to change the regulations.

On October 28, 2009, Alexandra Mendès, Liberal Member of Parliament for Brossard - La Prairie, Frank Valeriote, Liberal Member of Parliament for Guelph, Ontario, and Alexander Atamanenko, NDP Member of Parliament for British Columbia Southern Interior tabled Bill C-468 to amend the regulations to bring them in line with transportation times in the European Union.

Seal Hunt/Canadian Seafood Boycott – two victories: Thanks to the work of hundreds of animal protection organizations world-wide, including our party, we achieved victory in 2009 when the European Parliament voted to ban the importation of seal products into the 27 member states.

Liberal Senator Mac Harb made history by introducing a private member's bill on March 3rd, 2009, calling for an end to the commercial seal hunt. Senator Harb has re-introduced this bill, Bill S-207. A second senator, Conservative Senator Lowell Murray has seconded the bill, but it is still being prevented from being discussed in the House.

As a result of our political work, the Nova Scotia Minster of Natural Resources stopped the 2010 commercial killing of grey seal pups on Hay Island, a part of the protected Scaterie Island Wilderness Conservation Area. We will continue the fight to make sure that the hunt is ended permanently.

The Canadian Seafood Boycott is one of the tools that our party and a coalition of organizations are using to pressure the Canadian government to end the seal hunt for good.  The boycott applies economic penalties to Canadian fishermen, who also kill seals and whose governing federal and provincial agencies so assiduously promote and defend the hunt. 

Cormorant slaughter: Presqu'ile Provincial Park: In 2009, the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) sought the right to kill nesting cormorants at Presqu'ile Provincial Park through its Environmental Assessment (EA) programme, this time for a 10-year period. Again, we intervened and submitted a complaint to the Ministry of the Environment (MOE) that we hoped would stop or significantly reduce the senseless killing and immense cruelty which we documented in previous years. We were able to stop all culling for four years. Culling will likely start again, but the MNR (Ontario Parks) will be significantly curtailed resulting in thousands fewer birds being killed.

On October 1, 2010, we received the MOE's decision on our submission. The MOE has decided that an EA is not required. However, a number of conditions have been applied to the Park's management plan, including the following:

• The MNR expects that fewer than 100 cormorants may need to be killed in each of the next few years. If more than 300 cormorants are slated for slaughter, the MOE would require a Revised Notice of Completion allowing the submission of Part II Order requests;
• No killing would occur of cormorants who may have eggs past 75 percent of their incubation period, which would include if chicks are hatched;
• Killing in a given area will occur at most every second day; and
• Shooting events will be 30 minutes or less in duration and will be discontinued if a bird is wounded and needs to be 'humanely dispatched'.

While not a clear-cut victory for the cormorants, these conditions will result in fewer birds left wounded and, while waiting for this decision, stopped the shooting of cormorants on High Bluff Island since 2007. Shooting may resume as early as Spring 2011. While there is no appeal process, we will prepare a response to the MOE.

Click here to read the MOE's decision letter.

Point Pelee National Park: Parks Canada implemented the third of a five year killing programme for cormorants on Middle Island, a bird sanctuary that is part of Point Pelee National Park. In 2009, Parks Canada killed 1400 cormorants, significantly below their stated target of 4,000. We hope to stop the killing altogether but at minimum to keep the number of birds killed as low as possible and to document the cruelty of the cull. However, in 2010, Parks Canada managed to kill well over 3,000 cormorants. We have laid a complaint with Environment Canada's enforcement office and are examining other avenues to stop, or at least significantly reduce, the cull in 2011.

Tommy Thompson Park: The Toronto and Region Conservation Authority staff who manage Tommy Thompson Park, in downtown Toronto, continue to take an enlightened approach to the cormorant colony, which is the largest on the Great Lakes.

Protection of lost pets in shelters: We are working with municipalities across Canada who want to implement progressive and humane animal care and control programmes, such as in the City of Calgary.

We are currently focused on Quebec and Ontario because they use more dogs and cats for experimental purposes than any of the other provinces in the country.

In early 2010 we launched a campaign to get the Ontario Veterinary College at the University of Guelph to stop using dogs and other animals for live terminal surgeries. We are pleased to announce a number of victories. As of June 1, 2010, the University (including the Vet College) will not be acquiring pound dogs for research. In addition, all animals used in the Veterinary Skills Training and Enhancement Program (VSTEP) are to be recovered and adopted out and there will be no more animals killed for practice surgeries by veterinary students. These three changes will save approximately 700 animals yearly! Many thanks to everyone who helped make this campaign a success!

Fighting wildlife culling: We continue to fight wildlife "resource" managers across the country from designating animals as "overabundant", a classification that managers use as an excuse to conduct massive killing programmes. These agencies include Environment Canada, Parks Canada, provincial resource agencies and conservation authorities.

Because of your support, we have been very successful with Canada geese and after a year long fight, we've stopped the cull of deer in Sifton Bog, a wildlife area in the city of London Ontario.

However, our fight continues as Parks Canada plans a moose cull in Gros Morne National Park, the Government of Saskatchewan has authorized a coyote cull that has resulted in the death of 71,000 animals and the Government of British Columbia is planning a helicopter hunt of wolves, cougars and bears. In addition, the Government of Nova Scotia is also instituting a coyote cull.

Human-Wildlife Conflict Prevention Programme: We continue to work with organizations across Canada and the United States to develop human-wildlife conflict prevention programmes. These programmes are designed to prevent human/wildlife conflicts and develop non-lethal solutions where conflicts occur.

In addition, we are working to encourage governments to assist wildlife rehabilitators who take care of orphan and injured wildlife, who are the victims of conflicts.

For more information, visit our "Resources" section

If you have any questions or concerns please call us at 416-462-9541 or e-mail liz@animalalliance.ca.

Thank you all for making this progress for the animals possible!