Canadian Lawyer

w w w . c a n a d i a n l a w y e r m a g . c o m N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 8 19 An appeal to the Alberta Court of Appeal failed. Animal activists fighting on Lucy's behalf have not given up. Most recently, they sought judicial review of a 2017 decision of Alberta's environ- ment and parks minister to renew the Edmonton Valley Zoo's permit granted under the Alberta Wildlife Act. They lost at first instance, partly on the standing issue, and have appealed to the Alberta Court of Appeal. Today, the law of most western jurisdictions, including Canada and its provinces, implicitly accepts that animals are sentient beings, some- times defining them as such (e.g., Quebec's 2015 Animal Welfare and Safety Act). Many Cana- dian law faculties teach animal law; there are several self-proclaimed animal lawyers and law firms across the country and several passionate animal rights organizations that work diligently to protect animals as best as they can. But despite the best efforts of animal advo- cates and general acceptance that animals are sentient beings, it seems clear that the justice system will not consider animals as persons any time soon and will not offer them direct or indirect access to the law. (I note that the law has no difficulty regarding corporations, clearly non-sentient, as legal persons.) As things now stand, animals themselves, and those who wish to proceed on their behalf, lack standing, and only the government can intervene to protect a vulnerable animal. But what happens if the government doesn't want to bother? I take you back to the case of Lucy the elephant. Chief Jus- tice Catherine Fraser dissented eloquently in the Alberta Court of Appeal decision in Reece v. Edmonton. Said the chief justice: "Some may consider this appeal and the claims on behalf of Lucy inconsequen- tial, perhaps even frivolous. They would be wrong. Lucy's case raises serious issues not only about how society treats sentient animals — those capa- ble of feeling pain and there- by suffering at human hands — but also about the right of the people in a democracy to ensure that the government itself is not above the law." Fraser would have given the appellants public interest standing. She said: "The appellants, for the public and on behalf of Lucy, are entitled to their day in court." She was right. A collection of these columns — How To Be Good: The Struggle Between Law and Ethics — was published last October. "Lucy's case raises serious issues not only about how society treats sentient animals … but also about the right of the people in a democracy to ensure that the government itself is not above the law." VIEW 2019 Canada's leading in-house counsel discuss their top priorities and challenges for 2019 TUNE IN JANUARY 2019 canadianlawyermag.com/inhouse/videos Pr P esente t d by Untitled-7 1 2018-10-25 6:15 PM

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