Bill S-241 An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Wild Animal and Plant Protection and Regulation of International and Interprovincial Trade Act (great apes, elephants and certain other animals), short titled the Jane Goodall Act, will be moving to Senate of Canada hearings in the near future. There may be several different Senate Committees listening to delegations from government departments, experts, non-governmental organizations, zoo industry members and others in support of, or opposed to, Bill S-241.
Bill S-241 aims to expand protections for a broad range of wild animal species and pays particular attention to elephants and Great Apes (gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos and orangutans). If passed, the Bill will lead to a phase out of elephants in captivity in Canada and strict controls on Great Apes and hundreds of other animals.
There are currently 23 elephants held captive in Canada, including 17 at African Lion Safari in Ontario, 3 at the Granby Zoo and 2 at Parc Safari in Quebec and solitary Lucy at the Edmonton Valley Zoo in Alberta.
There are 30 Great Apes currently in Canada and they reside at the Calgary Zoo, Toronto Zoo, Granby Zoo and the Fauna Foundation Chimpanzee Sanctuary.
In the past, there were many more elephants in Canada, including solitary youngsters in professional and amateur zoos and significant numbers of elephants in circuses and traveling shows. 
There also used to be Great Apes in many roadside zoos, traveling in circuses and kept by people as pets. Zoocheck fought for many years to end those exploitive uses of elephants, Great Apes and other animals and, thankfully, the circuses and traveling novelty animal acts that used to be common are now pretty much a thing of the past.
Zoocheck and a number of other leading animal protection groups are pushing for passage of Bill S-241. We strongly support better laws and regulations and the phase out of certain animals in captivity, including elephants. Public attitudes and values have changed over the years and most Canadians no longer support the keeping of elephants and many other animals simply for public display and entertainment purposes. Increasingly, the use of wild animals for those reasons is viewed as anachronistic.
Senate hearings on the Jane Goodall Act are expected to begin soon. CLICK HERE TO READ BILL S-241