Municipal Government

To date, 15 BC municipalities - including major centres such as Richmond, Vancouver, Whistler, Burnaby, Victoria - as well as two Ontario cities, have adopted resolutions opposing battery cage egg production methods. As well the Metro Vancouver Regional District adopted a cage-free egg purchasing policy in February 2009, choosing only to purchase and serve free-range eggs in its cafeteria.

Now that’s news worth crowing about!

 

For an example of the municipal cage-free egg resolutions that have been adopted, see below:

 

Municipal Resolutions

On May 28th, 2007 the City of Richmond, BC became the first city in Canada to go cage-free with respect to eggs. The resolution that passed unanimously on May 28, 2007, reads as follows:

 

1. That the Council of the City of Richmond resolves to encourage Richmond residents:
   • as restaurants and caterers in both private and City operations, to highlight the support for and availability of certified organic, free-range chicken eggs on their menus;
   • as consumers, to request the option of purchasing certified organic, free-range chicken eggs at retail food outlets and restaurants and, where available, choose the certified organic, free-range option;
   • as wholesalers, to highlight the preference for and availability of certified organic, free-range chicken eggs in their food supply inventories; and
   • as retailers, to highlight the preference for and availability of certified organic, free-range chicken eggs in their food stores;
2. That the operators and caterers of City-run facilities be requested to use only certified organic, free-range or free-run whole (shell) chicken eggs, and that this be added to the Richmond Environmental Purchasing Guide; and
3. That a letter be written to the Provincial Government stating that Richmond City Council opposes battery cage chicken egg production based on the inherent cruelty of confining egg-laying hens in battery cages.
4. That staff report to Council in one year’s time highlighting any issues and problems which might have arisen.

 

This incredibly progressive move has made the City of Richmond a leader in improving the welfare of Canada's 26 million egg-laying hens.

 

Taking the initiative a step further, the City of Pitt Meadows wrote the provincial government calling for BC to ban battery cage egg production, and use more humane alternative methods to obtain eggs. They then proposed the same motion at the Lower Mainland Municipal Association's annual meeting in May 2008. Ultimately, this motion was not passed, losing by only a very small margin. To view news articles and press releases about some of the cities’ decisions, please see our news section.

 

Pitt Meadows then submitted the resolution to the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) at their annual convention in September 2008. However, delegates ran out of time to get to all resolutions during the convention, so it was forwarded to the Executive Committee to make a decision on behalf of its membership at their December board meeting. The resolution was defeated. According to committee members, we understand their reasoning was that they did not have enough information to make an informed decision.

 

Want to help make your city, region or province cage free? We can help.