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e-2071 (Food policy)

Petition to the Government of Canada

Whereas:
  • Statistics Canada reports that the two leading causes of death in Canada are cancer and heart disease, and the consumption of animal products are linked to both;
  • The WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer recently classified processed meat as a class one carcinogen, in the same category as tobacco smoke, plutonium, and asbestos;
  • It is wrong that our tax dollars are used to fund food that makes us sick, destroys our planet, and exploits animals;
  • Animal agriculture is responsible for producing more greenhouses gases than all transportation combined and is the leading cause of global warming, species extinction, deforestation, water pollution, and ocean dead zones; and
  • It is unethical and unnecessary to continue to exploit farmed animals in any way, whether it be for food, clothing, science, or entertainment, as they cannot be humanely exploited or slaughtered.
We, the undersigned, Citizens of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to:
1. Stop subsidies and other biased compensations to animal agriculture by stopping the multi-billion-dollar, taxpayer-funded subsidies and handouts that go to animal agriculture;
2. Make healthy food affordable by redirecting subsidies to ensure healthier, organic, plant-based food is affordable for everyone, in particular Indigenous and low-income communities and ensure that government assistance is shifted to those industries that form the major recommendations in the revised Canada Food Guide (i.e. plant-based foods); and
3. Help animal agriculture farmers transition to plant-based farming by providing financial assistance to farmers wishing to make the transition to plant-based farming, and set up the necessary committees to provide guidance during that transition.
Government response tabled on August 21, 2019 (Sessional Paper No. 8545-421-113-10)
Open for signature
March 25, 2019, at 9:58 a.m. (EDT)
Closed for signature
May 24, 2019, at 9:58 a.m. (EDT)
Presented to the House of Commons
Nathaniel Erskine-Smith (Beaches—East York)
June 3, 2019 (Petition No. 421-04103)
Government response tabled
August 21, 2019
Photo - Nathaniel Erskine-Smith
Beaches—East York
Liberal Caucus
Ontario