The Senate legal affairs committee has rejected a motion calling for members to take a $50,000 field trip to the African Lion Safari in Hamilton to see the zoo’s elephant exhibit.
The committee is studying a government bill that would prohibit new captivity and breeding of elephants and great apes without a license that shows it is for conservation, science or the animal’s welfare.
Conservative Sen. Don Plett says the bill would have the biggest impact on the African Lion Safari, a drive-through zoo in Hamilton’s ward 13 in the Dundas Valley which is home to 17 elephants.
He says it is offensive that senators don’t want to take the time to visit in person before passing a bill that could kill a family-owned business.
Sen. Marty Klyne from the Progressive Senators Group, says he doesn’t agree with spending $50,000 of taxpayer money to get a one-sided view of elephant captivity, and that the cost would be even higher to also visit an elephant sanctuary for comparison.
Klyne says the science on the impact of captivity on elephants is clear and the bill must pass.
Elephant rides at safari stopped in 2019 after injury
In 2023, CBC News reported that African Lion Safari was one of 55 companies that received Ontario taxpayer money for tourism losses during the pandemic.
The zoo received the maximum grant of $695,000, as did other high-profile tourism attractions, such as Canada’s Wonderland.
Elephant rides took place at African Lion Safari in Flamborough, Ont., until 2019, when a trainer was injured by an elephant named Maggie.
That attack was the subject of a CBC investigation, which found CAZA continued to allow the rides a decade after its American counterpart, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, halted the practice because of safety concerns for staff who work with elephants.
CAZA announced it had banned elephant rides for its members in December of 2019.