Jewish groups sue over slaughter rules
New Canadian requirements threaten domestic kosher meat supply, religious rights, lawsuit says
A change to rules governing animal slaughter in Canada violates Jewish Canadians’ right to freedom of religion, a coalition of religious organizations and businesses allege in a new lawsuit filed against the federal government.
If the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s requirements are allowed to stand, it could mean the end of production of kosher meat in Canada, dealing a major blow to Jews for whom access to kosher food isn’t just a religious requirement but also a driver of what defines their communities, the parties to the lawsuit say.
“Other Canadians are guaranteed access to local Canadian meat. Why should Jewish Canadians be treated any differently?” Richard Rabkin, managing director of the Toronto-based COR Kashruth Council of Canada, one of Canada’s major kosher certification agencies, told the Star.
In Judaic law, the term “kosher” means religiously acceptable food. In order for meat to be kosher, it must be from a specific list of animals; they must be killed and prepared in a specific way, known as shechita, which requires the use of a specific sharp knife to cut the animal’s neck in a singular swift motion.
In 2018, the government introduced new food safety regulations that included requirements for humane slaughter, including that animals must be stunned before they are killed. Judaic law does not allow for stunning.
The CFIA implemented guidelines for ritual slaughters, which it began enforcing last year.
The lawsuit alleges that enforcement has proved problematic, both logistically and due to the premise on which CFIA is operating: that Jewish ritual slaughter is not humane.
The intention of shechita is to render animals unconscious instantly so as to be humane — and it is a principle that has been in place for hundreds of years with the science to back it up, said Rabbi Saul Emanuel, the director of MK Kosher, another certification agency and party to the lawsuit.
“CFIA is supposed to be a sciencebased organization and to date they have ignored the science,” Emanuel told the Star, noting that the agency and groups like his have been in talks with the government for over a year about the implication of the new regulations.
The steps CFIA inspectors require from ritual slaughterers to confirm that animals are unconscious are “incompatible with a viable and sustainable kosher meat production chain,” the lawsuit says, as it adds too much time and complication to the process.
The lawsuit seeks to have them declared invalid because they infringe upon two sections of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms; it also argues that they are an unreasonable interpretation of Canada’s food safety laws.
In a statement to the Star, the CFIA said it has always required the humane treatment of animals during slaughter, and previous regulations had provided for that as well. It said the current guidelines are based on “international best practices to prevent avoidable suffering or injury when handling a food animal during ritual slaughter.”
“The CFIA always remains open to new scientific findings that can support animal welfare, and to listening to and engaging with stakeholders on the challenges they face, as well as on potential solutions,” the statement said.
The domestic production of kosher meat has been under pressure for years.
Early in 2023, a Toronto facility offering kosher slaughter closed due to financial pressures, and that followed the closure of another facility the year before.
Together, that meant the total weekly head of cattle slaughtered has dropped by half, from 3,400 to 1,750, the lawsuit states.
Another abattoir in Quebec closed as soon as CFIA began enforcing the guidelines, the lawsuit states. That’s meant virtually no kosher veal is now produced in Canada.
That leaves three facilities remaining, all based in Quebec. One of them, Viandes Forget, has been pausing its operations on and off after run-ins with CFIA inspectors. This has “created serious kosher meat supply issues and conveyed a clear message that the CFIA views shechita as inherently problematic from an animal welfare perspective, a position which the applicants and their experts strenuously contest,” the lawsuit states.
Rabbis landed on a temporary and acceptable religious workaround — animals can be stunned after the initial ritual cut — given the urgency of the problem for Canada’s kosher meat supply. While that’s what allows the three abattoirs to continue operating, it’s not seen as a longterm solution.
“This means that when the religious authorities will no longer be able to justify this temporary authorization, kosher production will completely disappear from the Canadian landscape,” the lawsuit states.
Imports already make up the majority of kosher beef and veal sold in Canada, but the international supply is not guaranteed, Rabkin pointed out, given fluctuations in demand around holidays.
The livelihood of hundreds of Jewish families who depend on the kosher slaughter industry is also a factor.
Then, said Emanuel, there is the sense of self. The Jewish community prides itself on being self-sustaining, he said, and its viability rests on being able to do that — which includes producing its own meat.
“It is an extremely intrinsic part of the Jewish community,” he said.