Quebec government backs down on its pit bull ban

After promising for more than a year that a tough, provincewide ban on pit bulls and other pit bull-type dogs was on the way, Quebec is backing down on breed-specific legislation.

Public Security Minister Martin Coiteux says he no longer wants to ban specific types of dogs, denying that the move amounts to backpedalling.

"It's a step forward. Backtracking would be to notadopt the bill.It would be to leavethings as they are," he said.

In the National Assembly Tuesday, Coiteux said he wants to take a consensus-based approach to passing Bill 128, which he still hopes to get done despite a tight timeline.

The National Assembly breaks for the summer June 15.

The move marks the end of a two-year period during which the government's enthusiasm for breed-specific legislation went from fervent to lukewarm.

Making the law enforceable

Bill 128 originally would have prohibited Quebecers from owning three breeds associated with pit bulls American pit bull terriers, American Staffordshire terriers and Staffordshire bull terriers as well as Rottweilers and any cross of those breeds.

Under the original proposal, those who already owned these dogs would be allowed to keepthem. New owners would be fined up to $5,000, and their dogs could be euthanized, soldor given to an animal shelter.

Lise Vadnais, the sister of a Montreal woman who diedafter being mauled by her neighbour's dog in 2016, said the family was "extremely disappointed" by the government's decision not to target specificbreeds of dogs.

"We're trying to console ourselves by the fact that at least there will be a law," Vadnais told Radio-Canada.

"But we would have really, really liked to targetdangerous dogs and pit bulls in particular [in the legislation], sothat eventually, there wouldn't be anypit bulls in Quebec," she said.

Coiteuxsaid Tuesday the government was in touch with theVadnaisfamily earlier this week, and while they may be disappointed, the revised legislation is "much better than doing nothing."

"And it's not nothing; it's making sure that we're going to have strict rules to protect people in every single city of the province."

Coiteux said the main objective is still to keep citizens safe, but the law has to be enforceableas well, a point he says was brought up numerous times during consultations.

He specifically mentioned Ontario, which has a province-wide pit bull ban thatQuebec pledged to emulate. Municipalities in that province, such as Ottawa,have had trouble implementing the legislation, he said.

• Report recommends restrictions, not ban, on pit bulls in Quebec

Coiteuxpointed out there is no scientific consensus on whether breed-specific bans work.

He said there will be amendments to the bill that will better define how dogs will be dealt with based on the gravity of their behaviour.

He also said he planned to work with the Ministry of Agriculture, which oversees animal welfare, to enforce stricter rules for dog breeders to make sure they're not putting dogs on the market that might be dangerous.

Ban is necessary, Coiteux said in past

When the bill was tabled in April 2017, Coiteux said that dog attacks across Quebec convincedthe government a ban was necessary.

He pointed to the case of ChristianeVadnais, a Montreal woman who was fatally mauled by a dog in her backyard in 2016. Her death was cited as the driving force behind a pit bull ban in Montreal.

That ban, championed by former mayor Denis Coderre, became a major issue during the November municipal election and was seen as part of Coderre's eventual downfall.

It was eventually suspended by Valrie Plante's administration.

The tone on the provincewide ban shifted considerably in the months following Coderre's election defeat and the suspension of the breed-specific portions of Montreal's bylaw.

In recent weeks, Coiteux has said he was keeping an open mind when it came to the possibility of removing the breed-specific sections of the provincial bill.