‘Say neigh to live horse export’: Why Jann Arden is busking in Vancouver this week
Canadian musician Jann Arden is seen walking in downtown Vancouver as she busks in protest of live exports of horses from Canada. (Instagram/ Jann Arden)
A Canadian icon is busking on the streets of Vancouver to protest live horse exports from Canada to foreign countries.
Musician, actor, author and activist Jann Arden launched her musical awareness campaign on Sunday with a pop-up performance at Lonsdale Quay in North Vancouver, and plans to continue in the downtown core on Monday, according to her social media posts.
“I want to thank everyone in North Vancouver for coming to hear me busking down at the Quay,” Arden wrote on Twitter Monday.
Her efforts on the North Shore managed to raise more than $400 for the campaign “Horsesh*t.”
The goal, according to initiative’s website, is to “end legislation allowing Canada to export live horses under conditions of duress for human consumption.”
In December 2021, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau issued a mandate to ban this practice to the agriculture minister, which has yet to be fulfilled.
The latest data by Statistics Canada suggests more than 2,000 horses have been shipped from Canada to Japan, where raw horse meat is a delicacy, since 2021.
That same year, Toronto MP Nathanial Erskine-Smith and Arden launched a petition calling for the end of live horse exports, which amassed 36,715 signatures by the time it closed this past February.
“Horses have shaped this country. They have carried us on their backs and plowed our fields. Like dogs and cats, they are our companions. We don’t need to treat them this way,” Arden wrote on her campaign’s website.
She says many of the horses that are exported out of Canada die before reaching the location where their destined to be slaughtered, after being crammed into wooden crates and deprived of food and water for up to 28 hours.
Arden plans to campaign in Vancouver until June 7.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Liberal MP sides with Conservatives on failed motion to 'repeal all carbon taxes'
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's latest unsuccessful attempt to call on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to repeal his carbon pricing system has secured the support of one Liberal MP.
Canada-India tensions: How we got here and what's at stake
In the past month, Canada has accused the Indian government of being involved in a murder on Canadian soil and India has ordered Canada to remove most of its diplomats from the country. Here's how the two countries got to this point, as well as what's at stake if tensions don't ease.
Rideau Hall apologizes for honouring Nazi veteran, Trudeau 'carefully' considering unsealing records
Rideau Hall is apologizing for the historic appointment of a man who fought for a Nazi unit in the Second World War, to the Order of Canada. Now, Gov. Gen. Mary Simon's office says it is examining two subsequent medals granted in the last two decades. This, as Jewish advocacy groups say the recent and resurfacing recognitions further make their case for the need to unseal Holocaust-related records.
Premier Wab Kinew: From rapper to reporter to Manitoba's top political office
Rap artist. Journalist. Economics student. Premier. Wab Kinew's path as a young man, including several brushes with the law and some convictions, did not appear a likely path to becoming the first First Nations premier of a province.
Here's how much it costs to raise children in Canada, according to new statistics
A new report from Statistics Canada estimates how much parents will spend on children over the course of their lifetime.
Veterans' headstones vandalized in Fredericton cemetery
It’s been more than a week since a number of headstones in the veterans’ section of a Fredericton cemetery were vandalized and still no leads on who was behind it.
BREAKING
BREAKING Rail outage that stranded Via, GO Train, other passengers caused by software upgrade: CN
The massive outage on Canadian National Railway Co. lines that delayed thousands of Toronto-area commuters during the evening rush hour Tuesday can be traced to a software upgrade, the company says.
Canadian public libraries played an important role during the pandemic: report
A new report finds that Canadian public libraries were national assets in providing access to knowledge and health to communities during the pandemic, according to the Canadian Urban Institute and Canadian Urban Libraries Council.
Cloud of $20 bills causes disturbance in southeast Calgary
Some say it can't buy happiness while Pink Floyd says it's the root of all evil, but money did cause some excitement in a southeast Calgary neighbourhood Tuesday.
Vancouver Island
-
COVID-19 outbreak declared at Victoria hospital
Health authorities have declared a COVID-19 outbreak at Victoria General Hospital after 11 patients were found to have contracted the illness on an acute-care ward.
-
Indigenous guardians train to protect B.C.'s coastal ecosystems
The lands and waters of Vancouver Island and British Columbia's south coast will soon be better protected by a group of Indigenous stewards.
-
Man shot by police after ramming RCMP cruiser was not seriously harmed, IIO finds
A man who rammed his SUV into a police cruiser outside a Vancouver Island RCMP detachment, injuring one officer, was not seriously injured when he was shot by police, the province's police watchdog has found.
Calgary
-
Owner charged after dog attack leaves pregnant woman injured and her dog dead
A dog owner has been charged following an attack that left a pregnant woman injured and her dog dead.
-
Boy in critical condition after being found in Airdrie, Alta., pond
RCMP say a four-year-old boy is in hospital in Calgary after he was found a pond in the city of Airdrie on Tuesday evening.
-
'Bear attack bad': Alberta couple identified as pair killed in grizzly attack
A family member of the couple killed by a grizzly bear in the wilderness of Banff National Park says he knew something was wrong as soon as he received a call with a message from their satellite device.
Edmonton
-
Caught on camera: Edmonton restaurant worker robbed at gunpoint
Police in Edmonton asked for help Wednesday to identify a man who robbed a restaurant with a silver handgun six months earlier.
-
'Bear attack bad': Alberta couple identified as pair killed in grizzly attack
A family member of the couple killed by a grizzly bear in the wilderness of Banff National Park says he knew something was wrong as soon as he received a call with a message from their satellite device.
-
Second-degree murder charge laid in shooting death outside Edmonton shelter
A murder charge has been laid in connection with a death outside the Hope Mission's Herb Jamieson Centre in January.
Toronto
-
BREAKINGBREAKING Rail outage that stranded Via, GO Train, other passengers caused by software upgrade: CN
The massive outage on Canadian National Railway Co. lines that delayed thousands of Toronto-area commuters during the evening rush hour Tuesday can be traced to a software upgrade, the company says.
-
Toronto unofficially breaks over 70-year temperature record
Toronto unofficially broke a temperature record on Wednesday for a second consecutive day. This is the last time it was this hot in the city.
-
Memo leaked by NDP shows Ontario government knew urban boundary changes were contentious
The Ontario PCs knew they may be blasted about a lack of Indigenous consultation and third-party involvement when they decided to alter the urban boundaries of six municipalities, according to internal documents.
Montreal
-
SQ targets 'grandparent scam' gang in Montreal conning elderly people in the U.S.
A task force headed by Quebec provincial police is targeting a criminal organization specializing in 'grandparent' fraud, preying predominately on elderly people in the United States.
-
WEATHER
WEATHER Temperature hits 29 degrees in Montreal, breaks record
Quebecers got smacked with a heavy dose of sun and heat this week as temperatures rose to record heights. In Montreal, the mercury rose to over 29 degrees on Wednesday, breaking a 2005 record.
-
Quebec slow to improve public services for Indigenous people, says ombudsman
The Quebec government has failed to implement most of the recommendations in a landmark report that found Indigenous people suffered systemic discrimination when accessing public services, the province's ombudsman said Wednesday.
Winnipeg
-
Ottawa puts more money toward studying possible Winnipeg landfill search
The families of two slain First Nations women whose remains are believed to be in a Winnipeg-area landfill say they have renewed hope after Manitoba's provincial election and the federal government's commitment of $740,000 toward further assessing the scope of a search.
-
What Wab Kinew has planned for health-care, homelessness and the landfill search
One day after Wab Kinew’s historic win, the premier designate spoke to the media about his plans for health-care, homelessness and searching the Prairie Green Landfill.
-
Manitoba Tory cabinet minister denounces right-wing pivot in election campaign
A Manitoba cabinet minister defeated in Tuesday's provincial election says the Progressive Conservative party she has served for years took a hard-right pivot during the election campaign, and now needs to address an identity crisis.
Saskatoon
-
'I'm sorry': Saskatoon woman seen in FreshCo arrest video apologizes to guard
A Saskatoon woman, whose altercation with a security guard was captured in a widely-shared video, made a tearful apology in court Wednesday morning.
-
'QAnon queen' supporters allegedly threaten Sask. village leaders with 'executions'
Saskatchewan RCMP say they’re investigating after the Village of Richmound allegedly received letters from supporters of the self-appointed "Queen of Canada" threatening public execution.
-
Here's how much it costs to raise children in Canada, according to new statistics
A new report from Statistics Canada estimates how much parents will spend on children over the course of their lifetime.
Regina
-
Construction set to begin on new joint-use school in north Regina
Construction is set to begin on a new joint-use school in north Regina.
-
Sisters in Spirit Walk in Regina honours missing and murdered Indigenous Peoples
Dozens of people came together in Regina on Wednesday to honour missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls along with transgender, two-spirit and gender-diverse people.
-
'QAnon queen' supporters allegedly threaten Sask. village leaders with 'executions'
Saskatchewan RCMP say they’re investigating after the Village of Richmound allegedly received letters from supporters of the self-appointed "Queen of Canada" threatening public execution.
Atlantic
-
How tropical storm Philippe will impact the Maritimes on Thanksgiving weekend
The official forecast cone issued for tropical storm Philippe by the U.S. National Hurricane Center shifted significantly to the west on Wednesday.
-
After critical report, N.S. promises to fine ambulance company for poor service
A Nova Scotia Health Department official says the government will fine the province's ambulance service if it fails to meet performance standards for response times.
-
Cost of groceries puts damper on Thanksgiving
According to Dalhousie University food distribution professor Sylvain Charlebois, this year’s Thanksgiving dinner will be a lot more expensive than last year.
London
-
'I am a white nationalist': accused in fatal truck attack in London penned his own manifesto
Nathaniel Veltman, 22, is on trial for four counts of terrorism-motivated first-degree murder and one count of terrorism-motivated attempted murder.
-
'Don’t foresee large mandatory restrictions': MLHU provides fall preview with increasing COVID cases
COVID cases are on the rise across the province, but the Middlesex-London Health Unit (MLHU) is not expecting any restrictions.
-
73 year old from London dies in single-vehicle crash
A 73-year-old individual from London has died after a single-vehicle crash in Middlesex Centre on Wednesday morning.
Northern Ontario
-
Historic Manitoulin Island ferry being towed away for recycling
A historic ferry that has been moored on Manitoulin Island for nearly 50 years after being decommissioned in 1974 is being towed away Wednesday to be recycled and there is mixed reaction from residents.
-
Timmins police investigating fatal parking lot explosion
An explosion that killed one person in a hotel parking lot in Timmins on Tuesday night is under investigation and has displaced several people.
-
Here's how much it costs to raise children in Canada, according to new statistics
A new report from Statistics Canada estimates how much parents will spend on children over the course of their lifetime.
Kitchener
-
Paris, Ont. family says vehicle stolen using key fob copying technology
A family in Paris, Ont. is without a vehicle after they woke up Tuesday morning to find it was no longer parked in the driveway.
-
Two people arrested for alleged carjacking at Conestoga Mall
Waterloo regional police say two males have been arrested in connection to an alleged carjacking at Conestoga Mall.
-
Park users question continued closure of Roos Island
More than five months after the City of Kitchener shut down access to Roos Island in Victoria Park, the area remains closed to the public – and some park users are frustrated.
