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At the Canadian pork industry’s
annual meeting in Banff last Friday, Canada’s agriculture minister, Gerry Ritz,
proudly announced a 15 million-dollar federal commitment to promote the
Canadian pork industry and its “products” in foreign markets, most
notably China and South Korea.
According to a media
release by Sask
Pork and the Manitoba Pork Council, the minister stated: “The government
and the pork industry share an aggressive trade agenda. The bottom line is our
government has been there for the Canadian pork industry and will continue to
be.”
It was just over a year ago that
we exposed the pork industry’s standard practices of confining pregnant pigs
for nearly their entire lives in gestation crates so small they are unable to
even turn around or lie down comfortably, workers slamming
piglets into the ground and leaving them to slowly suffer and die, and workers mutilating
fully conscious piglets without the use of painkillers. Is this really an
industry the public wishes to support with its taxes?
According to public response to
our exposé, the answer is no. Nearly 50,000 people signed a petition calling
for an end to the use of gestation crates and all eight of Canada’s major
grocers vowed to end their support of the crates.
Could the pork industry’s
interest in foreign markets be related to its failing image here in Canada?
Could the higher standards required by Canada’s retailers be the real impetus
for this agenda of “aggressive trade” with countries possessing little
to no animal welfare standards?
You can send a strong message to
Canada’s government by withdrawing your support from the animal
“products” industry by adopting a plant-based diet. To learn how, go
to ChooseVeg.ca.
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