FROM THE MONTRÉAL RODEO TO ALL QUÉBEC RODEOS
Summary of Settlement Agreement Approved by Superior Court Judgment Friday, June 16, 2017
Montréal - June 16, 2017
1. On May 23, 2017, Professor Alain Roy of the Faculty of Law of the Université de Montréal, supported by a group of law students, presented to the Superior Court a Motion for an Interlocutory Injunction to cancel the rodeo planned for this August as part of Montréal’s 375th Anniversary Celebrations;
2. On June 7, 2017, the parties signed a Settlement Agreement which deals with the social concerns at issue involving rodeos across Québec and not only Montréal’s 375th Anniversary Celebrations;
3. Normally, settlement agreements remain confidential and are not made public. In this case, it was agreed that the Settlement Agreement would be made public and fully transparent to deal with the concerns of Quebec citizens.
4. On June 16, 2017, the Superior Court approved and certified the Settlement Agreement. This Agreement is now a COURT JUDGMENT;
5. Pursuant to this Judgment, the parties are now required to jointly request MAPAQ — or the government ministry responsible for the application of the Animal Welfare and Safety Act (BÊSA) — to establish an Advisory Committee by June 22, 2017 at the latest. This committee will consist of:
• 3 representatives (soon be to appointed by Professor Roy) from the animal rights field
• 3 representatives from the rodeo industry
• 2 representatives from MAPAQ.
6. The Judgment directs the parties to the Advisory Committee “to identify the different standards of conduct for animal safety and welfare applicable to rodeo activities in the Province of Québec, TO EVALUATE THE SCOPE AND SUFFICIENCY OF SUCH STANDARDS WITH REGARD TO THE APPLICABLE LAWS (INCLUDING THE MATTER OF THE SPURS AND STRAPS USED IN BRONCO RIDING TRIALS), and to make the recommendations to MAPAQ that the Committee deems requisite for the safety and welfare of animal beings”;
7. The judgment also directs the parties to comply with additional obligations that were not part of the Injunction. Two experts (a veterinarian and a behaviorist) in addition to a photographer will therefore be appointed by Professor Roy to attend both the Montréal (NomadFest 2017) and Ste-Tite (Ste-Tite 2017 Western Festival) rodeos to make their own findings concerning the well-being and the safety of the animals used in the rodeos. Each of the expert reports will be submitted to the Advisory Committee and will then be made public;
8. In accordance with the Judgment, the report must be filed and made public no later than one year after the Advisory Committee’s creation;
9. At the conclusion of the Advisory Committee's report, nothing precludes Professor Roy from filing a Motion for a Declaratory Judgment in Court in order to obtain a ruling on the legality of the rodeo practices identified by the Advisory Committee and evaluated by the two experts (see paragraph 8 above), in light of the provisions of the BÊSA Act;
10. In summary, on June 16, 2017, the Superior Court issued a public and fully accessible Judgment setting out the legal obligations of all parties and furthermore establishing legal deadlines. In the event that a party fails to comply with its obligations, the Judgment may be enforced in Court.
SOURCE
Droit animalier Québec - DAQ
https://www.facebook.com/droitanimalierquebec/
INFORMATION
Me Michael Simkin
msimkin@legallogik.com
Phone: 438-478-3456
