New conditions smothering Canada’s kosher meat industry, says claim, while regular slaughter avoids the same scrutiny
Jewish organizations are taking the federal government to court to challenge new rules they fear spell the end of kosher animal production in Canada.
In a statement of claim filed earlier this week in Federal Court, the applicants seek to strike down new Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) rules requiring that non-stunned animals be subjected to cognitive tests to ensure they’re irreversibly unconscious before being processed.
They say the effect of the rules will eventually end kosher slaughter in Canada because the CFIA’s rules have drastically slowed down the practice, which they say is already humane. Some slaughterhouses in Canada have already stopped producing kosher meat because it has become uneconomical under the CFIA’s new requirements.
“As you can appreciate in a commercial setting, they need to progress from animal to animal in a relatively expeditious manner,” said the Kashruth Council of Canada’s (COR) Richard Rabkin, one of the organizations involved in the lawsuit.
“All these tests they now they require, like the corneal reflex tests and others, it just slows down the process.”
In typical non-kosher abattoirs, cattle are usually rendered unconscious via a powerful blow to the head from a bolt gun, then are hung up and have their necks slit, and are drained of blood until dead.
First Reading
“It is applicants’ position that with shechita the massive bleeding and rapid drop in arterial pressure caused by the complete severing of the trachea, oesophagus, carotid arteries and jugular veins leads to near instantaneous unconsciousness,” the plaintiffs argue in the statement of claim.
Rabbi Saul Emanuel, director of the MK Kosher Certification Agency, which is also a plaintiff in the suit, said that stunning animals violates Jewish dietary laws, as they need to be alive, healthy and alert before being slaughtered.
While the CFIA permits licensed abattoirs to slaughter non-stunned animals, the new rules require processors to subject each animal to cognitive tests, particularly by tests on their eyes or checks for arhythmic breathing, before being hung and drained.
Bolt-stunned animals, the suit alleges, are not subjected to the same scrutiny as non-stunned animals, and the stunning process results in some animals surviving and suffering as they are skinned alive. The plaintiffs argue that shechitah’s hands-on method ensures animals are irreversibly unconscious before being processed.
A joint statement from The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA,) MK and COR maintains that kosher slaughter is humane, and they have the scientific studies to prove it.
“Over the past few months, we have produced several reports from experts demonstrating that following shechita, animals rapidly transition to immediate and irreversible insensibility and as a result do not experience any pain,” the statement read.
“Regrettably, the CFIA has ignored the basic science, relying on inaccurate and flawed, selective literature review.”
Said Emanuel: “The CFIA is supposed to be a science-based organization. Kosher slaughter is extremely humane.”
Between August 2022 and January 2023, the suit says, plant closures had already reduced the number of kosher-capable processing plants in Canada from six to four, cutting the weekly yield of kosher beef in half from 3,400 head of cattle per week to just 1,750.
The largest of the remaining processors, Laval, Que.-based Montpak, slaughtered around 1,100 head of cattle weekly for kosher meat but ceased kosher production altogether immediately after the new rules were implemented, the suit said.
Remaining producers have reportedly told kosher agencies that they’ll either cut production or discontinue kosher slaughter entirely if the situation doesn’t change.
Canada currently relies heavily on imports to meet its demand for kosher meat, with only 30 per cent sourced domestically.
In a statement, the CFIA said it oversees ritual slaughter of animals to ensure regulations regarding animal welfare.
“The CFIA always remains open to new scientific findings that can support animal welfare, and to listening to and engaging with stakeholders on the challenges they face as well as on potential solutions,” the statement read.
“For a viable Jewish community, the presence of domestic, local kosher meat is really fundamental, and right now it feels like Canadian Jewry is being treated differently,” Rabkin said.
“We want to come to a solution.”
The application for the judicial review asks that the court find the new rules “inoperative and invalid.”
Last month, the European Court of Human Rights upheld Belgium’s ban on ritual slaughter for both Jews and Muslims.
HALIFAX – A strike that has shuttered libraries in the Halifax region for the past three-and-a-half weeks could come to an end on Thursday now that the employer and union representing hundreds of workers have reached a tentative labour deal.
The Nova Scotia Union of Public and Private Employees Local 14 and Halifax Public Libraries issued a joint statement on Friday announcing the agreement, though they did not share details on its terms.
It said both library workers and the library board will vote on the deal as soon as possible, and branches will re-open for business on Sept. 19 if it’s approved.
Chad Murphy, spokesperson and vice president of NSUPE Local 14, said voting for library workers opened Saturday morning and will close at 12 p.m. Sunday. He declined to share details of the deal but said the membership met to “review the offer in its entirety” on Friday night.
About 340 workers at libraries across the region have been on strike since Aug. 26 as they fought for improvements to wages they said were “miles behind” other libraries in Canada. Negotiations broke down after the employer offered the workers 3.5-per-cent raises in the first year of a new contract, and then three per cent in each of the next three years.
Library service adviser Dominique Nielsen told The Canadian Press in the first week on the picket line that those increases would not bring wages up to a livable wage for many workers, adding that some library workers sometimes have to choose between paying rent and paying for groceries.
When the strike began, employees were working under a collective agreement that expired in April 2023. Librarians make between $59,705 and $68,224 a year under that agreement, while service support workers — who are the lowest paid employees at Halifax Public Libraries — make between $35,512 and $40,460 annually.
By contrast, the lowest paid library workers at the London Public Library in London, Ont.— a city with a comparable population and cost of living to Halifax — make at least $37,756, according to their collective agreement.
Library workers also cited a changing workplace as another reason why they rejected Halifax Public Libraries’ first offer. Libraries have become gathering spaces for people with increasingly complex needs, and it is more common for library workers to take on more social responsibilities in addition to lending books.
“We need to ensure that members are able to care for themselves first before they are able to care for our communities,” an NSUPE strike FAQ page reads.
Other issues at play during the strike have included better parental leave top-up pay for adoptive parents and eliminating a provision of the collective agreement that calls for dismissals for employees who are absent from work for two days or more without approved leave.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 14, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
EDMONTON – RCMP say a second suspect has been arrested in the killing of an Alberta county worker.
Mounties say 28-year-old Elijah Strawberry was taken into custody Friday at a house on O’Chiese First Nation.
Colin Hough, a worker with Rocky View County, was shot and killed while on the job on a rural road east of Calgary on Aug. 6.
Another man who worked for Fortis Alberta was shot and wounded, and RCMP said the suspects fled in a Rocky View County work truck.
Police later arrested Arthur Wayne Penner, 35, and charged him with first-degree murder and attempted murder, and a warrant was issued for Strawberry’s arrest.
RCMP also said there was a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Strawberry, describing him as armed and dangerous.
Chief Supt. Roberta McKale, told a news conference in Edmonton that officers had received tips and information over the last few weeks.
“I don’t know of many members that when were stopped, fuelling up our vehicles, we weren’t keeping an eye out, looking for him,” she said.
But officers had been investigating other cases when they found Strawberry.
“Our investigators were in O’Chiese First Nation at a residence on another matter and the major crimes unit was there working another file and ended up locating him hiding in the residence,” McKale said.
While an investigation is still underway, RCMP say they’re confident both suspects in the case are in police custody.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
RICHMOND, B.C. – The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the 26-year-old son of a man found dead on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast has been charged with his murder.
Police say 58-year-old Henry Doyle was found badly injured on a forest service road in Egmont last September and died of his injuries.
The homicide team took over when the BC Coroners Service said the man’s death was suspicious.
It says in a statement that the BC Prosecution Service has approved one count of first-degree murder against the man’s son, Jackson Doyle.
Police say the accused will remain in custody until at least his next court appearance.
The homicide team says investigators remained committed to solving the case with the help of the community of Egmont, the RCMP on the Sunshine Coast and in Richmond, and the Vancouver Police Department.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Kirk’s walk-off single in 11th inning lifts Blue Jays past Cardinals 4-3
Canada’s Sarah Mitton captures shot put gold at Diamond League in Brussels
Opinions on what Tagovailoa should do next vary after his 3rd concussion since joining Dolphins
Another player from top-ranked Georgia arrested for reckless driving
Australia’s Michael Matthews earns third win at Quebec cycling GP
Kamloops, B.C., man charged with murder in the death of his mother: RCMP
Canada’s Marina Stakusic falls in Guadalajara Open quarterfinals
Whitecaps loan Herdman to CPL’s Cavalry, sign two reserve players to first-team deals
