Thank you very much to the good member for Hastings–Lennox and Addington. Yes, I agree that we should be moving the legislation forward. I’ve also read the communication coming from the advocates and the executives at the animal welfare organizations. Also contained in their body is the fact that they’ve identified that a good first step is usually some language, as I’ve seen, that it needs active enforcement and active investigation, which means resources from this government. So we have to take a look at their communication in its totality.

I think my remarks have been very generous about where this bill is good, but we know that every piece of legislation can be improved, and I wanted to focus on that in my remarks as well.

Absolutely not. Unless there’s real teeth to the legislation, people will continue to do what they do because it is so profitable.

At any given time, you can go online and find designer puppies being sold through puppy mills for $2,000, $2,500. These litters are so profitable for the bad breeders and the bad actors, so they’re not going to stop with just an increase in fines; you’ve got to go out and get them. They’re advertising all over the place, so it’s not even that you have to work that hard to find them; they’re telling you where they are.

Yes, I have all sorts of opinions, because I was—at one point in time, I was uninformed. I did not know that the declawing of animals, especially for cats, was inhumane, because it was not widely understood. I thought that was just a way that you stop a cat from scratching your furniture—I was also significantly younger, until I learned as an adult.

I also thought that little golden cockapoos had short tails. It was not made known to me that someone cropped them off, or that ears of dogs were clipped.

So we need to ensure that legislation goes out that is going to be enforced and investigated—well-resourced—but we also have a responsibility to educate the public so they can also make good, informed decisions.

I thought I was fairly clear in my comments that I did support big sections of the bill. Again, we can always do more and go further. And if you can’t catch them, charge them; they’re not going to get fined.

Yesterday, I made a mistake by not acknowledging Melissa Hudson and Nicki Ward, who were both here for the Trans Day of Remembrance. I wanted to make sure that members of the House knew that their presence was here.