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A key piece of legislation aimed at phasing out elephant and great ape captivity in Canada has been shelved indefinitely.
After years of legislative progress and hurdles, the Jane Goodall Act, named after the renowned conservationist and primatologist, passed its third reading in the Senate in December 2024, but died when Parliament was prorogued in January 2025.
Despite various commitments made by the former Liberal government and a 2025 campaign pledge to reintroduce the act meant to protect captive elephants and great apes, there likely won’t be a push by Ottawa to revive it anytime soon, say animal advocates who suspect it has to do with the government’s current preoccupation with the tariff war and other economic issues.
The act was first introduced in 2020 by the late Manitoba Sen. Murray Sinclair, and later re-introduced by Sen. Marty Klyne. The act, which became known as Bill S-15, was also supported by Goodall, who died last year.
It sought to end new captivity, banning zoos and other establishments from importing and exporting great apes and elephants and breeding them, unless it was for the purpose of conservation, welfare or scientific research, rather than entertainment or commercial trade.
It would have also banned the use of the animals for entertainment, including elephant rides.
“Since the election occurred, we haven’t seen any movement on this front,” said Camille Labchuk, executive director of animal law advocacy organization Animal Justice.
After years of legislative progress and hurdles, the Jane Goodall Act, aimed at phasing out elephant and great ape captivity in Canada, seems to be shelved indefinitely. Animal advocates suspect it has to do with the government’s current preoccupation with the tariff war and other economic issues.
Advocates, zoos urged government action
Almost a year after Prime Minister Mark Carney was elected, a group of animal advocates and zoos, including the Toronto and Calgary Zoos, sent a letter to current environment minister Julie Dabrusin in March, urging the government to “work to introduce and champion legislation to protect captive animals as soon as possible.”
“We stand united in the belief that this federal law is not only necessary, but welcome,” it stated.
However, the group did not get the response they hoped for.
In an email shared exclusively with CBC News, the group shared the minister’s written response, which did not directly address the group’s concern.
In part, the response read, “As you noted, Bill S-15 died on the Order Paper … in the previous session. The Government of Canada’s broader legislative agenda is influenced by a range of factors, including decisions by the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons.”
Johari, a nine-month-old baby western lowland gorilla rides on its mother Josephine’s back at the Metro Toronto Zoo in February 2002. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press)
Dabrusin also highlighted other conservation initiatives Ottawa was championing. She said provinces and territories were primarily responsible for animal welfare, “including the regulation of zoos, and all have legislation in place addressing these matters. The Government of Canada will continue to monitor related developments.”
Dabrusin was unavailable for an interview with CBC News. However, Keean Nembhard, a spokesperson for Dabrusin, said in a statement that “any future consideration of similar legislation would require it to be reintroduced, and at this time, no further decision has been made regarding the future of this bill.”
He did not elaborate on why.
“It’s incumbent on them to explain more to Canadians if they’re backing away from this and why,” said Labchuk.
She and other proponents of Bill S-15 point to various government pledges, including one made by former environment minister Steven Guilbeault when Goodall died last October.
Jane Goodall, a zoologist and conservation advocate renowned for her studies of chimpanzees, has died at 91. The Jane Goodall Institute said in a statement the primatologist died of natural causes.
‘Animals don’t vote’
There are believed to be 23 elephants currently living in Canada, though the numbers are subject to some fluctuation.
There are three in Quebec at the Granby Zoo and one, Lucy, at the Edmonton Valley Zoo. One of the largest herds on the continent resides at African Lion Safari, near Hamilton. About 19 elephants are located at the Ontario park, though officials there would not confirm numbers to CBC News.
Environment and Climate Change Canada told CBC News two elephants were exported to the U.S. this year, though privacy laws would not allow it to disclose the exporter.
Angela Fernandez, director of the animal law program at the University of Toronto, who previously spoke in favour of the bill to legislators, calls the lack of action on the bill a “real lost opportunity.”
She said so much work has been done already that it would be “low hanging fruit” for the government to “pick it up, dust it off and carry it over the finish line.”
However, she says that may not happen any time soon.
“The Carney government is so focused on development and economic issues,” she said. “It’s a changed landscape.”
Fernandez says, generally, animal legislation is tough to pass for a variety of reasons, including the feeling that “animals don’t vote,” which means laws protecting them may not be a priority.
