Hon. Jane Cordy moved third reading of Bill S-246, An Act respecting Lebanese Heritage Month.

She said: Honourable senators, as I rise to speak at third reading of Bill S-246, I acknowledge that we are meeting on the traditional and unceded territory of the Algonquin and Anishinaabe peoples.

It is fitting that I speak today at third reading of this bill, as it is still November, and Bill S-246 would designate the month of November as Lebanese heritage month in Canada. In my second reading speech, I detailed the historical events that make the month of November significant for Lebanese people, and I will not repeat that here, but I will say that last Tuesday, November 22, 2022, Lebanese people around the world celebrated Lebanese Independence Day and 79 years of independence.

On Sunday, November 20, 2022, my city of Halifax celebrated Nova Scotia’s Lebanese Heritage Month with a ceremony and the raising of the Lebanese flag in front of City Hall. I was pleased and honoured to be invited to attend the Canadian Lebanon Society of Halifax’s event this past Saturday evening, which closed out Lebanese Heritage Month in Nova Scotia with great Lebanese food and great music. These events in Nova Scotia give Lebanese Nova Scotians the opportunity to celebrate and share their culture, their history and their contributions to their home province of Nova Scotia.

When asked during committee examination of the bill about Nova Scotia’s Lebanese Heritage Month and what he envisioned a national recognition could contribute, Wadih Fares, Honorary Consul of Lebanon in Halifax, had this to say:

When Nova Scotia declared November as Lebanese Heritage Month, it had a positive impact on our community. It showed that we are seen and we are valued and, in turn, created a stronger partnership between our community and the province. Our culture and heritage are woven into the fabric of Nova Scotia, making the province stronger and more diverse, and I believe that a national Lebanese heritage month will have the same yet even broader-reaching impact.

During the committee hearing, Senator Petitclerc referred to this bill as a tool to help bring people together, and that is exactly what this bill is intended to do. It is a tool to not only show and display Lebanese culture and heritage, but also for other Canadians to learn about Lebanese culture. For it is only when we come together that we can truly get to know one another.

As Mr. Fares said during the committee hearing:

That is the most important thing. We are a multicultural country, and I think we can be a stronger and better country if we know each other better.

Honourable senators, Canada is a country made up of countless cultures and people. Senator Housakos said it very well in his second reading speech when he said:

. . . the reality of the matter is that Canada is essentially strong because of all the sums of all our parts. It is imperative that all our parts feel that Canadian family and recognition.

Mr. Fares echoed this when he spoke of being seen and feeling valued.

This is what I hope Bill S-246 will achieve as we celebrate a national Lebanese heritage month in the years ahead. I want to thank Senator Simons and the bill’s critic Senator Housakos for their speeches and support of Bill S-246 at second reading. Also, I want to thank the members of the Social Affairs, Science and Technology Committee for their work, and their excellent questions and comments, at the committee hearing.

I would also like to thank Lena Diab, Member of Parliament for Halifax West, and a prominent member of the Lebanese community in the Halifax area, without whose support this bill would not be here today.

Lastly, I would like to recognize and pay tribute to Mr. Wadih Fares for his passion and dedication — not only to the Lebanese community, but also for a lifetime of positive contributions to his adopted province of Nova Scotia.

In 1976, Mr. Fares immigrated to Canada as a student at the onset of the Lebanese Civil War with nothing more than, as he put it, “my mother’s prayers and the will to make a good life in a new country . . . .”

Mr. Fares did just that. He gained his Bachelor of Engineering degree from Technical University of Nova Scotia, and a Diploma of Engineering from Dalhousie University. He went on to form his own successful construction company, W.M. Fares Group, which many in Halifax credit with developing the skyline of Halifax over the past 21 years. He has been recognized many times over for his business acumen. He was awarded Halifax Chamber of Commerce Business Person of the Year, Atlantic Business Magazine’s Top 50 CEO of the Year award, and named to the Atlantic Business Magazine’s Hall of Fame. He has received an Honorary Doctorate in Commerce from Saint Mary’s University in 2009 and sits on the Dalhousie Board of Governors.

He is the Honorary Consul of Lebanon for the Maritime provinces. He also sat on the Nova Scotia minister’s Immigration Advisory Council. These are just a few of his achievements. In 2012, Mr. Fares was recognized for his entrepreneurial spirit and community service, and was invested as a member of the Order of Canada.

Colleagues, Mr. Fares is a perfect example of the entrepreneurial spirit that Senator Housakos spoke of in his speech — which drives many immigrants to carve out the best life possible for themselves and for their families. These opportunities are what our country can provide, and they are the reason that many choose to make Canada their home. Immigrants to Canada can be measured in what they give back economically, socially, culturally, philanthropically and politically.

Honourable senators, immigrants make Canada a better place for all of us. Ontario and Nova Scotia were the first provinces to officially recognize November as Lebanese Heritage Month. My hope is that Bill S-246 will pass through Parliament in a timely manner, and that next year we will celebrate as a nation alongside the 400,000 Lebanese Canadians during the first national Lebanese heritage month.

My bill is a short one, but it has the potential to make a difference to a large number of Canadians — to make them feel seen, and to make them feel valued. I hope that I can count on your support.

Thank you. Meegwetch. Shukran.

Hon. Karen Sorensen: Honourable senators, I’m pleased to stand today in support of Bill S-241, the Jane Goodall act.

The long-awaited legislation will ban new captivity of big cats, bears, wolves, sea lions, seals, walruses, certain monkeys and dangerous reptiles at roadside zoos. It will require permits for breeding and acquisition of species like big cats, phase out elephant captivity in Canada and provide limited legal standing for certain species. It will also require designated animal care organizations to meet stringent criteria, including the highest standards of animal care, whistleblower protection, responsible acquisition and no use of animals in circus-style shows.

This bill will not affect the operations of responsible zoos and aquariums who already abide by the highest standards of animal welfare. In fact, the Jane Goodall act has been endorsed by the Calgary Zoo, the Toronto Zoo, Winnipeg’s Assiniboine Park Zoo, the Granby Zoo in Quebec and the Montreal Biodome.

I will take this opportunity to address questions that were asked in the chamber last week about why an American organization, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, or AZA, is held up as a standard for animal care as opposed to Canada’s Accredited Zoos and Aquariums, or CAZA. CAZA standards have been criticized for being overly broad and subjective, and they do not necessarily remove accreditations from zoos that violate these standards. AZA has higher standards, is much more stringent about enforcing penalties for non-compliance and has historically been quicker to ban inhumane practices.

For example, CAZA banned elephant rides a decade after AZA had already banned them, and only after a vicious elephant attack occurred at a CAZA-accredited zoo. CAZA standards continue to be lower for elephant care. AZA standards allow only protected contact with elephants. What that means is humans cannot be in the enclosure with the elephants, while CAZA allows that sort of contact, which can be distressing to the animal and dangerous for the handlers.

One of my honourable colleagues asked why we would essentially outsource accreditation of Canadian zoos to an American body. Other Canadian professionals, including engineers and medical practitioners, are accredited by American organizations. This is because larger organizations like AZA often have more resources to enforce regulatory standards.

For instance, AZA has access to a wider pool of animal care experts to ensure proper and unbiased inspections of zoos. And because they have more dues-paying members, AZA has the financial cushion to revoke accreditation of those zoos that don’t meet their standards.

Canada’s AZA-accredited zoos consistently meet the highest standards of animal care, and their support of this bill speaks to its importance.

Before I get to why this bill is necessary, I would like to talk a bit about my local zoo to illustrate the positive impacts of accredited Canadian zoos.

The Calgary Zoo meets the rigorous accreditation standards of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums — WAZA — and the Association of Zoos & Aquariums — AZA. Their conservation arm, known as the Wilder Institute, has spearheaded groundbreaking animal protection and international development efforts in Canada and around the world.

In 1998, the Calgary Zoo’s Wilder Institute supported the creation of the Wechiau Community Hippo Sanctuary, dedicated to conserving Ghana’s endangered hippopotamuses. The sanctuary monitors and protects the hippo population by combining conservation and protected area management with ecotourism and economic development.

The Wilder Institute’s work in Ghana is a model for protecting the ecosystem without sacrificing jobs and the economy. In fact, the hippo sanctuary actually creates jobs and industry in the region. The sanctuary embraces responsible ecotourism with a hippo-viewing platform that allows visitors to admire the majestic creatures while making it easier for conservationists to monitor the animals.

But that’s not all. The sanctuary also features an organic shea cooperative and shea butter processing centre, which employs nearly 2,000 local women. This initiative provides employment and income for over 20% of the local population, ensuring that the communities will never have to sacrifice environmental protection in the name of commerce. By employing women, it is helping to advance gender equality in Ghana, allowing women a degree of economic and political equality that did not exist before — all while stabilizing and increasing Ghana’s hippo population.

The Calgary Zoo Wilder Institute also does good work close to home. Since 1985, the zoo’s off-site conservation breeding facility has ensured the survival of species like whooping cranes and Vancouver Island marmots. Last summer, they broke ground on a new facility in Wheatland County, Alberta, which will allow them to expand their conservation efforts with improved habitats and more space.

As an example of the work they do there, the Wilder Institute has partnered with federal and provincial governments and the Canadian Wildlife Service to protect endangered burrowing owls in the prairies. The institute collects the youngest and least likely to survive owlets and takes care of them through the fall and winter, increasing their odds of survival when they are reintroduced into the wild. They cared for 20 of these tiny owls in 2021 alone.

The zoo is also embarking on a new project to advance their Arctic conservation efforts, including a polar bear sanctuary.

This commitment to animal welfare will be familiar to anyone who has ever toured the Calgary Zoo. Visitors to the zoo will find safe and spacious enclosures that provide a suitable habitat for the animals, not to mention enrichment items that allow them to exercise their bodies and brains. They’ll meet experienced staff who understand and prioritize the needs of animals.

What you won’t find are degrading circus acts, cruel elephant rides or animal handling activities that cause undue stress to the animals. The Calgary Zoo’s own staff do not have any physical contact with the animals except when providing medical treatment.

There could not be more of a difference between accredited, responsible zoos like the Calgary Zoo and unregulated, unaccredited and irresponsible roadside zoos that this bill targets.

CTV’s “W5” recently aired a disturbing report on roadside zoos here in Ontario, exposing cruel treatment of animals, ranging from inhumane enclosures and inappropriate contact with humans, to outright physical abuse: alligators trapped in tiny pools full of feces; monkeys confined to small cages, pacing in circles and biting themselves because they have no other stimulation; tigers behind substandard fencing; an animal “trainer” bragging about abusing a defenceless lion cub.

Undercover footage from these roadside zoos has also revealed a cavalier attitude toward the safety of guests, including children. The “W5” report included footage of children sticking their fingers into cages holding sharp-toothed lemurs, and, in one case, an animal handler holding a baby — a human baby — in one arm while petting a lion with the other. This type of recklessness puts the lives of both humans and animals at risk.

In 2016, police were called after a white lion escaped from its enclosure in the Papanack Zoo. The zoo blamed “human error” for the escape. The lion was shot dead.

Due to insufficient regulation, the burden of cracking down on these irresponsible organizations often falls to local municipalities. This is why we need strong federal regulation to prevent these travesties before they occur.

Zoos, at their best, are places of wonder and education. Many conservationists and animal rights activists gained their love of animals and nature from these early experiences.

But animals are not just here for our entertainment. They are sentient beings that feel pain and, for that matter, fear, stress, happiness, affection and perhaps even love. Elephants are herd animals who crave socialization and grieve their dead. Certain apes have been observed comforting other apes in distress, and primate mothers have been observed mourning lost infants, caring for their bodies for weeks or months after death. Octopuses — whom we didn’t even believe were sentient until recently — are clever and curious creatures who have been known to solve puzzles and use tools.

When animals don’t have the space, privacy and socialization with other animals they need, they act in abnormal ways. Whales in captivity have demonstrated dangerous compulsive tendencies: chewing on the walls of their tank, vomiting up their food to play with it and injuring themselves by ramming into walls. Whales who have been trained to beach themselves as part of their act start to do this compulsively even when not performing, which causes internal organ damage and kidney failure.

Captive animals who aren’t properly cared for pose a threat to humans. An orca who performed at SeaWorld for over 20 years was responsible for the violent deaths of three people, including two trainers whom he attacked and pulled under water.

Closer to home, an aggressive elephant killed a handler at Hamilton’s African Lion Safari in 1989. Thirty years later, another elephant attack at the same zoo prompted Canada’s Accredited Zoos and Aquariums to ban elephant rides.

Many Canadians have fond memories of riding an elephant at the circus, petting a whale at MarineLand and holding snakes at a roadside zoo. But these practices were developed at a time when we knew very little about animals, when we didn’t understand that they have emotional needs and that they can become dangerous to themselves and others when those needs aren’t met.

But we now know more about animals, and it would be irresponsible to disregard decades of research and observation, not to mention basic principles of dignity and decency, for the sake of our amusement.

I urge my colleagues in the Senate to support this bill.