July 23, 2021
Dear Minister Wilkinson,We, the undersigned concerned stakeholders and citizens, wish to express our support for an
immediate prohibition on elephant ivory trade in Canada.
Every year, as many as 35,000 elephants die at the hands of elephant ivory poachers in Africa.
The African elephant population has declined by a staggering 96 percent in the last century,
and African elephants are at risk of becoming extinct within a couple of decades. In March of2021, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) updated the IUCN Red List ofThreatened Species and declared the African forest elephant to be Critically Endangered and theAfrican savanna elephant to be Endangered. Africa’s biodiversity is already threatened, andfurther loss of elephant populations will have devastating consequences.
The decline of African elephants is largely driven by poaching, motivated by demand forivory. Accordingly, a Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Faunaand Flora (CITES) resolution calls on the world community to shut down legal domestic ivory
markets "as a matter of urgency". This resolution mirrors the position of TheAfrican Elephant Coalition, which represents 78 percent of African elephant range States, as wellas the position of a IUCN resolution on closure of domestic ivory markets. Canada’s top trading
partners, including the United States, China, and the United Kingdom have taken action inresponse.
Canada recently backed the G7 2030 Nature Compact to stop and reverse biodiversity loss,
specifically pledging to “meet targets to increase the abundance of species populations
worldwide, significantly reduce overall species extinction risk and eventually stop humaninduced extinctions”. We also note the commitment in the 2021 G7 Climate and Environment:
Ministers’ Communiqué, which states that illicit wildlife trade activities “drive biodiversity loss,corruption, money laundering, insecurity and other forms of organised criminal activities as wellas undermining our efforts to tackle climate change and its impacts. We commit to continue ourefforts to strengthen international and transboundary cooperation to tackle these crimes andharmful activities.”
Allowing elephant ivory trade, including the import of elephant ivory from cruel trophy hunts,
not only creates channels for laundering illegal elephant ivory but also perpetuates the demise ofAfrican elephants and biodiversity. Canada now has an opportunity and a responsibility to follow
through on its G7 commitments.
As a nation that prides itself on conservation and biodiversity leadership, Canada must act. We
are calling on you to help African nations protect elephants by ending Canada’s elephant ivory

trade as a matter of urgency.
Sincerely,
Bif Naked - Musician
Bryan Adams, O.C. – Musician
Cristina Mittermeier – Photographer, Biologist
Edward Burtynsky - PhotographerGeorges Laraque – Commentator, Former Athlete
Dr. Harvey Locke – Conservationist
Jennifer Baichwal – FilmmakerProfessor John Bemrose – Victoria College, University of Toronto
Dr. John England, O.C., F.R.S.C. – Professor Emeritus, Earth & Atmospheric Sciences
Dr. Martin Sharpe – Earth Scientist
Nicholas de Pencier – FilmmakerPaul Nicklen – Photojournalist, Marine Biologist
Dr. Peter Abrams, F.R.S.C. - Professor Emeritus, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
Robert Bateman, C.M., O.B.C. – Artist
Shelton Dupreez - Filmmaker
Tzeporah Berman – Environmental Activist
William Shatner, O.C. – Actor