Kendra Coulter & Jessica Scott-Reid, “Canadian Government Should Spend More Protecting Animals than Killing Them” (22 July 2022) Toronto Star.
Professor Kendra Coulter and Journalist Jessica Scott-Reid wrote an opinion piece published in the Toronto Star addressing government spending on the agriculture industry. Coulter and Scott-Reid began by reinforcing notions that a key role of governments is to spend public money on socially valuable organizations and services. They describe that although some government money is spent on protecting animals, the “lioness’s share of federal money allocated to animal-related activities in Canada is shovelled to private and for-profit industries that kill them.” Specifically, almost three billion dollars was made available to dairy, chicken, and egg farmers since 2015. They go on to discuss how there is no dedicated federal funding for anti-animal cruelty initiatives. In the spirit of growing Canadian agribusiness to limit animal cruelty and negative climate impacts, Coulter and Scott-Reid urge the Canadian government to invest in an animal- and environmentally-friendly food system.