https://ipolitics.ca/2020/11/1...t-apes-in-captivity/



Jane Goodall Act would ban elephants and great apes in captivity

By Holly Lake. Published on Nov 17, 2020 9:38am


A year after ushering in legislation to ban the captivity of whales and dolphins in Canada, Sen. Murray Sinclair is turning his attention to captive great apes, elephants, and other wild animals.

Alongside world-renowned primatologist Jane Goodall, Sinclair announced on Tuesday he’ll be tabling new legislation in the Senate. If passed, the Jane Goodall Act will also ban imports of elephant ivory and hunting trophies.

Sinclair said the bill — which he named after Goodall because she inspires people to do better by all creatures on Earth — would create some of the strongest animal-protection laws in the world.

Goodall is a “hero to animals and animal-right activists, the environment, and to my grandchildren,” Sinclair said.

The bill reflects Indigenous values of respect, stewardship, and connection to the natural world, he said, and builds on provisions passed in Bill S-203 in June 2019, which phased out the captivity of whales and dolphins for entertainment.



The Jane Goodall Act would ban new captivity of great apes and elephants unless licensed for their best interests, including for conservation, their individual welfare, and non-harmful scientific research. It would also ban elephant rides, and the use of both great apes and elephants in performances.

Drawing on similar efforts around the globe, the legislation would establish legal standing for great apes, elephants, whales and dolphins in sentencing for captivity offences, making it possible for people to speak for them in court, and for the court to order relocations or improved conditions.

Through regulation, it would also empower cabinet to extend the legal protections to other captive, non-domesticated species, such as big cats. Through this “Noah clause,” Ottawa could protect designated animals after consulting with experts on a species’ ability to live a good life in captivity.

Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, who will sponsor the bill when it lands in the House of Commons, said this is a welcome provision, because it creates a clear pathway for governments to act and add species without needing legislative efforts to address cruelty.

“Animals think, feel, and love, and they deserve our respect and compassion,” he said. “Canada often doesn’t score so well, when we compare animal-protection laws around the world.”

If passed, the legislation would move Canada “significantly forward,” he said, adding, “It’s hard to imagine two more powerful advocates” working on its behalf, referring to Sinclair and Goodall.

Honoured to have the bill named after her, Goodall spoke to reporters about wanting to help animals since she was a small child. She described “rescuing every worm I saw on on the pavement, crying if I couldn’t manage to rescue a butterfly or bee or fly that was imprisoned in a room, rescuing drowning little insects that fell into a cup of tea.”

She went on to live and work with chimpanzees. By showing that many behaviours once thought to be exclusively human may have been inherited from common ancestors, her research changed how people saw chimps. She said her findings “forced science to come out of its reductionist ways to think that humans are (the) only ones with personality, minds, and emotions.”

Humans share 96 per cent of their DNA with chimpanzees.

“Their behaviour is so like ours: (their) postures, gestures, ways of communicating, kissing, embracing, holding hands, long-term bonds between family members,” Goodall said.

While they also have a dark side, like humans, “they show love, compassion and altruism.”

And like the great apes, she said it’s long been known that elephants, whales and dolphins are “highly, highly intelligent.” She was supportive of Bill S-203 to ban whale and dolphin captivity in Canada, and said this latest bill takes its mission one step further.

“I believe that it’s tremendously important today that we recognize the sentience of other animal beings.”

There are 33 great apes in captivity in Canada: nine chimpanzees, 18 gorillas, and six orangutans. The latter won’t have access to the outdoors until at least next year, while one of them, who was born in the wild, has lived indoors at the Toronto Zoo since the exhibit opened in 1974.

More than 20 elephants live in captivity in this country, including one who’s kept alone. Animal advocates have lobbied to have Lucy relocated from the Edmonton Valley Zoo to a wildlife sanctuary.

In Ontario, the African Lion Safari uses elephants for performances and rides. One animal attacked a trainer last year.

There are also 1.5 million privately owned exotic animals in Canada, including nearly 4,000 big cats. Sinclair said this legislation would prevent the kind of “shameful exploitation” of big cats seen in the popular documentary Tiger King. He also believes elephant captivity should be phased out, with animals moved to sanctuaries.

“This legislation is not necessarily at odds with all zoos; it is for animals,” Sinclair said, noting he hopes the bill generates dialogue and innovation. “I think it’s fair to say that we have some support from the institutions that are more interested in looking at what they can do to provide for the welfare of these wonderful animals.”

Although Canada already bans sales of ivory from elephants killed after 1990, Sinclair wants a stricter ban answering Goodall’s 2019 call to action. Ivory is difficult to date, and easily enters the Canadian black market. Furthermore, between 2007 and 2016, Canada allowed more than 400 elephant skulls and 260 elephant feet to be imported. The bill will also ban imports of elephant hunting trophies.

“It would just be wonderful if this bill is passed, so that Canada can prove that it is on the forefront of humane treatment of animals, of understanding of animals, of realizing that we are here on this planet and we should be sharing the planet with the other animals,” Goodall said.

Asked whether he’s concerned this bill will languish as Bill S-203 did — after senators used procedural stalling tactics for years to keep the latter from moving through the chamber’s legislative process and on to the House of Commons — Sinclair said that, based on discussions he’s had with senators, this bill has broad support.

While changes need to be made to Senate procedure rules to end the obstruction of private members’ bills, he said the experience he gained from pushing through the “Free Willy” bill will be useful now.

“We can now anticipate the kind of hurdles this bill will face, and we have strategies in place to deal with that,” Sinclair said.

As the world remains in the throes of the pandemic, Goodall said the objectives of the proposed legislation are also very timely.

“The trafficking of wild animals is now known, and agreed worldwide, to be promoting the emergence of new zoonotic diseases — the diseases that come when a bacteria or virus spill over from an animal to a person,” she said.

“These kinds of imports we never know; there are so many bacteria and viruses out there, which the scientists studying these diseases tell us are just waiting to start another epidemic or pandemic. (This bill) is just something else that might be working on our side.”

This story was edited on Nov. 17 at 5:30 p.m.

Great

Another sneaky way to control hunting and firearms the long way around. We should control vegetarians too. Because we just haven't learned to hear vegetables scream as we jerk their bodies from the soil. And then cut them into pieces. Oh the pain. Be Well, Packy.

If you were to read her biography, you would learn a lot about the woman and her fund raising schemes, family train wreck and how she got where she is. Pathetic.

Well from what I have been seeing in the last few days the message is spreading far and wide about this BS. I am pretty sure you are going to be seeing a lot of Orgs get on top of this, including SCI Canada.

Such a shame a great deal of money and time will need to be spent to fight this sort of crap. It's money that could be put to better use...you know, on real conservation projects that actually help wildlife.

You guys had Trump, we've got Turdeau, enough said.

Grizz

I received information today that SCI is indeed going to be responding to this. I know some of you guys despise the group, but they are generally always there to provide a response to BS like this bill. They have a lot of experience at fighting this sort of thing so I am glad to see them on board.

I had a conversation in hunting camp with some Canadians that were less than lovers of Donald Trump. When everybody had said their piece I asked if they thought Hilary Clinton would have been better. They really didn't have an answer for that.

Mark

Fun fact: Jane Goodall dated professional hunter Brian Herne when they were young.

Mark...I have no problem believing that. He is not well liked up here. As you well know most urban Canadians tend to lean left for the most part. Most thought Obama was a good thing. That aside, I think we don't have a lot of use for any of your top candidates on both sides, just as is the case with OUR politicians. They all suck. Neither of our countries currently have any top contenders that really instil a great deal of confidence in voters.

Trump has, for the most part, come across as negative towards Canada with a bunch of the stupid shit that he is prone to saying. Why would you think he should be viewed in a positive fashion up here?

We are all faced these days with picking the lesser of the evils when it comes to federal politics.

quote:

Originally posted by MARK H. YOUNG:
I had a conversation in hunting camp with some Canadians that were less than lovers of Donald Trump. When everybody had said their piece I asked if they thought Hilary Clinton would have been better. They really didn't have an answer for that.

Mark

quote:

Originally posted by MARK H. YOUNG:
I had a conversation in hunting camp with some Canadians that were less than lovers of Donald Trump. When everybody had said their piece I asked if they thought Hilary Clinton would have been better. They really didn't have an answer for that.

Mark

Over 300 million of you and these, including the current crop, were the best you could do for leadership? That's the puzzler. But then we are in the same boat. Putin at least knows how to run a country.

Grizz

quote:

We are all faced these days with picking the lesser of the evils when it comes to federal politics.

Sad but true.

Dave

Jesus fucking Christ! Obama was a fucktard! Biden is a fucktard! Turdo is a complete raving world class fucktard, dictioanry example of fucktard.
Trump is a blowhard, but his policies (for the most part) were great!

We are all fucked anyway.

The only way to ever fix this fucktard world is to nuke the media agenda.

Demonical your language skills stink. Did you realize after you use these words so much they lose all meaning? Goodbye. Be Well, Packy.

quote:

Demonical your language skills stink. Did you realize after you use these words so much they lose all meaning? Goodbye. Be Well, Packy.

Packy believe it or not we agree on something but you wont know it as I'm on ignore.

Demonical you are dead right

Some years back, a colleague who was arguing about gun control made the statement to me, "Canada has gun control and it is a nation of hunters." Perhaps in some areas, but with most Canadians living within a short distance of the USA border in cities, I wondered how accurate it was. Any thoughts?