Protecting animals: performative theatre vs effective action

Ford says he’ll hunt down those who test on dogs and cats. Here are some ways to protect animals at the federal level.

I’m posting while on a flight to Edmonton for our national caucus meetings this week, with Parliament back in action on Monday.

And, of course, there’s an important convention coming up this weekend for the future of Ontario Liberals.

I’ll have more to say about both in the coming days, but Doug Ford’s recent comments on animal testing got me thinking about ways we can act federally to protect animals and it turned into this broader rant about performative theatre vs effective action (Ford is a master of the former, not so much the latter).

It’s worth watching the final 30 seconds if nothing else.

If you’ve got ideas for future videos or questions you’d like me to answer in this format, email us at info@beynate.ca or leave a comment. The plan is to post weekly this fall, so ideas and feedback are welcome.

And if you’ve got ideas for our Liberal Animal Welfare Caucus to take on, you can fill out the survey at protectanimals.ca

Looking back, the summer was spent mainly here in our east end. Yes, at local events and coaching baseball (our EY 9U team was upset in the semis but it’s still a great time to be a baseball fan in Toronto right now. It’s the best team we’ve had since I was 9 and watched Carter touch them all).

For the most part, though, I spent the summer meeting with and helping constituents, communicating with Ministers on issues in their portfolios, and preparing for the fall session. We just recorded, for example, a podcast episode on Bill C-2 with an expert at The Citizen Lab, and have a lineup of episodes coming.

I also had the opportunity to represent Canada at a parliamentary conference in Mexico, where our delegation met with President Sheinbaum and worked to build relationships across borders. More important than ever given the ongoing challenges with the Trump administration.

Looking forward to getting back at it next week in Parliament. It’s been a bit of an uneven start so far, but there’s lots of opportunity and work ahead to deliver on our ambitious promises around clean energy, affordable housing, and more.