Dear Constituents,
Thank you for all your letters and phone calls regarding the proposed animal cruelty legislation.
I do not support Bill S-203 and will vote against it. This bill, as you said, will do little to decrease cruelty against animals. I was proud to speak at a rally held by animal rights groups at the Vancouver Art Gallery last weekend to oppose the Bill.
From Tuesday April 8 to Thursday April 10, I will be in the United States on Parliamentary business, and may therefore be absent when the actual vote is called. If this is the case, I have arranged to be "paired" with a member of the Conservative Party who intended to vote in favour of this Bill; this is the standard practise when MP's are unable to be in the House. For more information on the parliamentary convention of pairing, please click here.
In this case, I have been paired with the Secretary of State for Sport, Conservative MP Helena Guergis, who supports S-203. Ms. Guergis will not be present during the vote -- our two votes will cancel each other out.
As you know a Liberal government brought forward a strong bill to protect animals against cruelty (Bill C-17 in 1999). The 2000 election removed it from the Order Paper. The Chretién government reintroduced it in 2001 as C-15, which was passed by the House of Commons but held up by the Senate until a 2004 election again dropped it off the order paper. The Paul Martin government reintroduced the Bill again in 2004 as C-10 but once again the Senate obstructed the bill until the 2006 election once more removed it from the order paper. Bill S-203 is a Senate bill which does nothing to deal with the short comings of the current legislation.
The Liberal party is reintroducing its old bill, Bill C-373, a Private Member’s Bill by Liberal MP Mark Holland (Ajax-Pickering). I think you will find it updates our outdated animal welfare laws to protect wild animals, strays, and sets clear guidelines for the definition of cruelty. I will be supporting Bill C-373.
Once again, thank you for writing. Please feel free to contact my office if I may be of further assistance.
Sincerely,
Hon. Hedy Fry, M.P.
Vancouver Centre
604.666.0135 office
E-mail: fryh@parl.gc.ca
