E-7020: Petition to the Minister of the Environment, Climate Change and Nature — Canadian Petition Tracker
Canonical URL: https://petitiontracker.ca/petition/e-7020
Track petition E-7020 — "Petition to the Minister of the Environment, Climate Change and Nature" sponsored by Mel Arnold. 5,241 signatures and counting. See signature growth trends and provincial breakdown on PetitionTracker.ca.
Petition Text
Petition to the Minister of the Environment, Climate Change and Nature
Whereas:
• Long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis), the most heavily traded primate for experimentation, were uplisted to “Endangered” by the IUCN in 2022, a status reaffirmed in October 2025;
• Cambodia is Canada’s primary source of imported long-tailed macaques;
• A five-year U.S. federal investigation found Cambodia’s supply chain laundered wild-caught macaques as captive-bred;
• Despite this and the species’ endangered status, Canada allowed the import of over 10,000 macaques from Cambodia between 2023 and 2025;
• Trafficking has continued, with Thai authorities uncovering ongoing smuggling of wild macaques destined for Cambodia in November 2025;
• Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) stated in response to e-petition e-6537 that it has “not seen evidence” of falsified Cambodian permits, yet appears to have conducted no independent verification;
• ECCC has authority to investigate wildlife-trade violations and verify permit authenticity;
• Listing the species in Schedule II of Wild Animal and Plant Trade Regulations (WAPTR) would require domestic import permits, enabling legality and traceability checks—an approach ECCC used in restricting salamander imports in 2017/2018; and
• Canada has a responsibility to apply the precautionary principle to avoid enabling illegal trade or contributing to the decline of an endangered species.
We, the undersigned, citizens and residents of Canada call upon the Minister of the Environment, Climate Change and Nature to:
1. Launch an investigation into the legality, traceability, and authenticity of CITES permits used for the import of Cambodian long-tailed macaques into Canada under the Wild Animal and Plant Protection and Regulation of International and Interprovincial Trade Act; and
2. Add long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) to Schedule II of WAPTR to enable the Ministry to require and assess its own import permits.