Landlords across Canada should not be able to stop tenants from having pets, as they are part of the family, the Liberal Party says.
Speaking at an election debate on animal-welfare issues on Wednesday, Liberal candidate Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, who is also the Housing Minister, said provinces should require landlords to allow pets in rented accommodation.
Mr. Erskine-Smith said this issue should be addressed when the national housing strategy comes up for renewal this year, and the federal government should use its “convening power” to make provinces put on the agenda the rights of tenants to have pets.
He said there are rules in place in Ontario to protect renters with pets, and other provinces should bring in similar protections.
“Pets are members of the family, and it’s outrageous to discriminate on that basis,” he said. “I think all provincial jurisdictions should adopt the rule that Ontario currently has. It’s a good thing for tenants.”
Green Co-Leader Elizabeth May said “the abandonment of pets because of landlord rules is a real tragedy,” and the ability for tenants to live with their animal companions should be attached as a condition for federally funded housing.
At the debate convened by animal-welfare charities, Ms. May also argued that Canada’s ability to diversify its markets was being hampered by poor animal-welfare standards that are restricting export, including to Europe.
Canada should aspire to raise its standards, she said, including by improving the treatment of egg-laying hens and by stopping the use of growth hormones and prophylactic antibiotics in beef production.
“We want to uncouple and insulate ourselves from the United States on trade issues, one thing we have to do in the interest of our own economy is to make sure that we are getting animals off drugs, basically in intensive feedlot operations,” she said.
Ms. May said the Green Party also supports legislation to stop the export of live horses to Japan for meat. A private member’s bill banning the live export of horses, backed by the Liberal government, was halted when Parliament prorogued.
She said Canada needs to stop allowing the import of macaque monkeys from Cambodia for use in laboratories, following allegations that some could have been caught in the wild.
Since 2023, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has been denying permits for the import of Cambodian macaques after an investigation found evidence that thousands of monkeys caught in the wild had been smuggled to the U.S. from Cambodia.
NDP representative Alistair MacGregor said he thought the federal government should act on the import of Cambodian macaques, expressing wider concerns about the risks associated with the international wildlife trade.
Mr. Erskine-Smith said, if elected, the Liberal government would bring back a bill that also was halted by the proroguing of Parliament to prohibit zoos from acquiring or breeding elephants, gorillas, chimpanzees and orangutans.
The Conservatives did not take part in the debate.