Canadian farm groups have voiced major concerns regarding a private member’s bill that has quietly reached the second reading stage in the Senate.
Bill C-293, introduced in 2022 by Liberal MP and noted vegan, Nate Erskine-Smith, is one of many private member’s bills that have gained traction under the Liberal minority government.
The bill would require the federal health minister establish a pandemic prevention and preparedness plan that, as proposed, would promote alternative proteins and blame animal agriculture for antimicrobial resistance.
“This is a wide-ranging bill. It’s a bill that we’re just not clear on what direction it’s going to go, and there is some concerning language,” explains Dr. Leigh Rosengren, chief veterinary officer with the Canadian Cattle Association (CCA), discussing the bill’s references to antimicrobial resistance in the interview below.
The CCA, along with the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, Canadian Pork Council, Chicken Farmers of Canada, and National Cattle Feeders Association, are among the organizations that have flagged major concerns with the bill, while supporting the purported overall objective of pandemic preparedness.
Antimicrobial or antibiotic resistance is not an issue specific to livestock production, emphasizes Rosengren.
“We absolutely need to recognize that the threat of antimicrobial resistance is real. It is a real public health threat, but it needs to be addressed through a One Health lens,” she says. “We need to recognize that the the problems and the solutions both lie in that that triad — considering the environment, agriculture and humans, and that we cannot properly solve this by trying to address one sector alone. It has to be through that One Health lens, and it has to be science-based.”
She notes all medically-important antimicrobials used in farming in Canada have required a prescription since 2018.
“One of the other things Canadians might not be aware of is that we have surveillance in Canada that follows both farmgate antimicrobial use, but also resistance in bacteria that are potentially foodborne right from the farm through the slaughter process, through retail,” explains Rosengren. “So consumers can be assured that this is being monitored by the Public Health Agency of Canada, which then provides us that scientific evidence to build our programs and policies…
“I don’t want to make it sound like we’re reacting to bills like this,” she says. “We’ve been doing this for decades.”
All Liberal and NDP MPs that were present in the House of Commons at third and final reading in June voted in favour of Erskine-Smith’s bill, while Conservative and Bloc members unanimously voted against it.
Check out Rosengren’s conversation with RealAgriculture’s Lyndsey Smith on Bill C-293:
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