Animal Protections, Rights & Welfare
Nate has been vocal in support of improving animal protections, he has introduced legislation to modernize animal protection laws, and he has helped to establish the Liberal animal welfare caucus in Ottawa, of which he is a member.
Locally, Nates hosted many film / town hall events to raise public awareness of animal issues, including free screenings of Blackfish with Phil Demers, The Woman Who Loves Giraffes with Anne Dagg, and In Defense of Food with Dr. David Jenkins.
In 2016, Nate received the Humane Legislator of the Year Award from Animal Justice.
In 2017, he received the Clements Award from the Fur-Bearers for being an Outstanding Politician.
In 2019, Nate received the Toronto Vegetarian Association Lisa Grill Compassion for Animals Award.
In 2019, Humane Canada recognized Nate’s efforts and said, “Canada celebrates a historical landmark with three animal welfare Bills passing through Parliament and becoming law in the past week. This would not have been possible without the work of Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith”.
In 2020, Nate was awarded the Humane Canada Animal Welfare Leadership and Innovation Award for his work on the passing of Bill S-203.
Nate spoke at Humane Canada’s recent National Animal Welfare Conference. He said, “Cruelty shouldn’t be a cost of doing business. Yes, it sometimes costs more to treat animals with the compassion and respect they deserve. Humanity costs more.” You can watch the full conference, with Liberal, Green, and Conservative colleagues, here.
Nate spoke at the Justice Committee regarding Bill C-84 (Animal Welfare). He mentioned to Minister Lametti, “Animals are sentient. They think, feel, love and suffer, and our laws should reflect that reality”. You can watch the full video here.
Nate was joined by Peter Singer, one of the world’s most influential living philosophers. They cover a lot of ground, from effective altruism and global poverty, to animal rights, food policy, and the need for a global ban on wet markets, to broader questions about how we can make the biggest difference.This episode is audio-only, and you can listen to it here.
On another episode of Our Commons, Nate was joined by Animal Justice lawyer Camille Labchuk and University of Alberta law professor Peter Sankoff to discuss the new laws.
He dedicated this episode to Regan Russell, a kind and passionate animal rights advocate who was fatally hit by a pig transport truck while protesting the new ag-gag laws outside of a slaughterhouse.You can listen to it here.
Bill C-246: the Modernizing Animal Protections Act
On February 26, 2016, Nate introduced Bill C-246, The Modernizing Animal Protections Act. The bill would have strengthened our Criminal Code’s animal cruelty provisions, banned the importation of shark fins, and required fur labeling as the US and the EU already require.
Other Animal Welfare/Rights Advocacy
Nate has been a speaker at the Toronto Veg Food Festival and has written an op-ed in Now Magazine about his relationship with veganism and animal activism. He has also been the keynote speaker at the 2016 National Animal Welfare Conference hosted by the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies.
He continues to sponsor a number of petitions on issues of animal welfare and animal rights, and to be an advocate for improving animal protection laws.
Animal transport regulations
Canada’s animal transportation regulations should be stronger. For example, they currently allow animals to be transported for very long distances without food, water or rest; do not protect animals from extreme weather conditions; and still allow for the use of electric prods.
Nate has contacted the Ministry of Agriculture to advocate for improvements to these regulations, in keeping with the recommendations from Mercy for Animals, and the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association.
Cruelty free cosmetics
Nate supports Senator Stewart-Olsen’s Bill S-214 “Cruelty Free Canada Act” to end animal testing for cosmetics and cosmetic ingredients. He looks forward to the bill passing the Senate, and has raised this issue with the Ministry of Health.
Ending the captivity of whales and dolphins
Nate supports Senate Bill S-203 to help end the captivity of whales and dolphins. Working in collaboration with Zoocheck Canada, he has already pushed the Ministry of Environment to improve regulations to protect against the importation of wild-caught cetaceans.
Aid for agricultural animals
Nate has met with World Animal Protection specifically on the issue of protecting domestic, farm, and working animals during international emergencies and disasters. At their urging, Nate wrote to the Minister for International Development, encouraging further study of this matter and asking for animal protections to be considered as an element of future disaster relief projects.
The recent fire in Fort McMurray served as a poignant reminder for the need for improvement right here in Canada. Nate has spoken with US Congressman Chris Shays (Republican-Connecticut) about efforts in the US in the wake of the Hurricane Katrina to create a disaster-relief strategy for animals, via the US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and about how such a strategy might work in Canada.
On parliamentary travel to Washington in October 2017, Nate also met with one of the US Congressional Animal Welfare Caucus co-chairs, Oregon Congressman Earl Blumenauer.
