Madam Speaker, out of the thousands of pages of briefing notes that I have around me, I can't find the proper one. The meeting that the Member is referring to was a technical committee set up by the member countries of an organization called the International Standards Organization, which has about 120 countries belonging to it. The technical committee was struck to come up with some draft standards they could recommend to the full membership on what would be acceptable standards for quick kill and humane traps.
The work has been done over the period of the last few years and it is particularly political because, in my view, many of the member countries -- what some of the Europeans called the Anglo-Saxon countries -- are particularly strong about protecting wildlife. Having very little left themselves, they have -- perhaps out of guilt -- taken the view that everything should be saved in the world and people like ourselves should be prevented from using any more wildlife that we have in our country.
These countries spearheaded the movement to try to wipe out the fur industry a few years ago. It has, for instance, led to the boycott of baby seal pelts being imported into European countries. They, in fact, killed the market for seal pelts internationally. It was their view that by setting these high standards for trapping, none of the countries, including Canada, could meet the demands that the European Parliament set out. And, that we would fall far short of the mark and therefore, trapping would be wiped out.
In fact, we've surprised them with our own determination. Research into trapping methods had been going on long before the Europeans clicked on to that particular fad. What has been happening recently is that many of these countries, with their activists, have started lobbying to suggest that no standards or traps are acceptable at all. They are changing the rules in the middle of the game and we've objected to that. I think what has happened in this particular meeting in Ottawa is that some of the animal rights activists have moved in from Europe and parts of Canada and the US to lobby against any type of standards being adopted and put forward for recommendation to the full membership of the International Standards Organization.
So, rather than taking a chance on losing the vote at this time, some of the countries have asked to defer the vote. They will be meeting with Foreign Affairs Ministers and Trade Ministers of respective countries to ensure there is some certainty to the way in which the vote will take place in the next few months. Thank you.