Here’s an excerpt from a story that appeared in the Western Standard, following yesterday’s press conference at Queen’s Park:
Lawyer Karen Selick, of the Canadian Constitution Foundation announced her organization's support for the cause of raw milk in Canada at yesterday morning's news conference at Queens Park, Toronto.
“At a press conference at Queen’s Park today, the Canadian Constitution Foundation (CCF) announced its support for a court case involving consumer choice, freedom of contract, and the right to earn an honest living free from government regulation that is arbitrary, unreasonable, unnecessary and unfair.
The case concerns Ontario dairy farmer Michael Schmidt, who has been providing unpasteurized milk to consumers for approximately 20 years without a single incident of illness attributable to milk borne germs.
Mr. Schmidt was charged in 2006 with numerous violations of the Milk Act and the Health Promotion and Protection Act, Ontario legislation that requires milk to be heated to at least 160 degrees Fahrenheit before it can be marketed.
Mr. Schmidt has contested both his guilt under the legislation, and the constitutional validity of the legislation itself. He argues that the ban on raw milk sales violates the guarantee of “life, liberty and security of the person” in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The ban also violates the Charter’s equality and non-discrimination rights.
His six-day trial ended in February, 2009. The court’s judgment is scheduled to be released on January 21, 2010.
Since Mr. Schmidt was charged in November, 2006, the size of the herd he manages has doubled. There is also a waiting list of consumers wishing to participate in Mr. Schmidt’s raw milk dairy.
The CCF has announced that it will represent Mr. Schmidt in ongoing litigation challenging the constitutionality of the raw milk ban.
“This is about the rights of Canadians to choose a product that is safely consumed by tens of thousands of people around the world. It’s also about the right to earn an honest living free from government regulations that are unnecessary, unreasonable and unfair,” said CCF Litigation Director Karen Selick…”
The Bovine 
It’s great that Karen Selick and the CCF are taking up the cause of raw milk in Canada. Karen was the author of a couple of newspaper articles a year or so ago, one of which compared Michael Schmidt’s raw milk battles with those of Toronto furrier Paul Magder whose continued civil disobedience led to the end of laws prohibiting Sunday shopping in the city.
The involvement of the Canadian Constitutional Foundation also reminds one of how the Buckeye Institute has taken up the case of the Stowers, whose Manna Storehouse Coop was raided last December in Ohio. More on that story here:
https://thebovine.wordpress.com/2008/12/17/manna-storehouse-7-the-stowers-tell-their-story/
Here’s our excerpt from Karen Selick’s story on Sunday Shopping and raw milk:
https://thebovine.wordpress.com/2009/01/27/raw-milk-is-like-sunday-shopping-was-a-few-decades-back-an-idea-whose-time-has-come-karen-selick-in-the-post/
I must find the time to get the telephone number for the Canadian Constitutional Foundation as most readers should know that I owned the last legal processing dairy in western Ontario and was forced out of business by corrupt bureaucrats with fake unwritten policies in favor of their (bureaucrats) chosen dairy and will back every thing I say with government documents via freedom of information act as Michael has seen. I have not died yet so I will continue my quest for farness and I am sure that Bill Moore and Jim Wheeler hope I run out of time before someone with legal power or soave take hold of my case in the name of justice for all . Search Bernie Bailey on this sight for details of a misguided Ministry of Agriculture in Ontario Canada.
Still one vote
Bernie
Please note that the correct name of our organization is the Canadian Constitution Foundation (not “Constitutional”). We welcome the interest of readers of The Bovine to our site at http://www.canadianconstitutionfoundation.ca/
We look forward to working with Michael Schmidt and James McLaren to increase the freedoms of Canadians to choose what they eat and whom they deal with.
Karen Selick I am now officially your fan! Raw milk is a therapeutic food and one that many very ill people must have for survival.
My great grandmother was healed of TB from a regime of raw eggs and raw milk in the 1920’s.
This regulators are in the dark ages and need to really study the powerful nature of this wholesome food.