Raw Milk Drinkers in Ontario Seek to Raise $100,000 to Challenge Injunction that Criminalizes Raw Milk Distribution

Help us defend constitutional rights of raw milk consumers in Canada!

Raw milk consumers across Canada have spent decades peacefully trying to obtain raw milk from local farmers despite the threat of harassment from the authorities. Finally, some of us have stepped forward to tell the courts that our constitutional rights are being violated by laws restricting access to raw milk – a food that is perfectly legal to consume in Canada.

A January 2018 injunction against anyone “selling, delivering or distributing” raw milk in Ontario was the last straw, criminalizing peaceful citizens who want access to this safe, unprocessed food. So, with the encouragement of leaders from several cow-share communities in southwestern Ontario – we’ve mobilized!

We found a highly experienced lawyer to represent us on a partly pro bono basis, and his legal team has been building our case at lightning speed. In early February they served a Notice of Application against the Attorneys General of Ontario and Canada, on our behalf – 19 raw milk consumers and two raw milk producers, whose freedom of conscience or religion, and security of person, are being violated (under sections 2 and 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms).

All 21 of us applicants made this commitment despite financial risk, the ordeal of being cross-examined, and fear of the unknown consequences of taking on the Government. We did this not only based on our personal conviction, but on behalf of our raw milk communities and other consumers across Canada, who all stand to benefit from this constitutional challenge.

Please help us pay the legal bills: $100,000 during the next ten months. (Regardless of which side wins at the Ontario Superior Court, the decision could be appealed and ultimately the case may be decided by the Supreme Court of Canada. So next year, unless the case is settled, we will have to raise money for the next round.)

Another look at the laws about raw milk

Contrasting Ontario Laws and Acts about Raw Milk in Courts with other Major Jurisdictions (Part 2)

by Raoul Bedi, BASc

I – Introduction :

Last week we listed some of the major acts, laws and regulations being cited by Crown Lawyers in the latest manifestions, in the form of the 2 applications listed below, in the never-ending case(s) against Organic Raw Milk and its adherents, consumers, supporters, co-op members, farmers and producers in Ontario and Canada. For brevity’s sake we gave only the relevant sections from the Ontario Milk Act and Milk Regulations to begin with .

We then observed, in Newmarket Court, the Crown Lawyers for Gavin Downing, director for the Milk Act, and the York Region Municipality, systematically work through all of those major acts, one by one in great detail, stating first which sections were violated, what they say and mean, and then the evidence (from myriad affidavits, discovery and testimony) to support their claims of violation, and punishment(s) sought.

In addition to all the Acts and Regulations listed last week and again today, the Crown’s Legal team consisting of 4-5 lawyers, also cited 6-10 examples of Case Law which we will not list here. Of interest was the fact that they cited case law from England to justify the enforcement of certain bureaucratic regulations, and the need for concomitant restraining orders where they have been continually violated.

The SUPREME IRONY here is that they failed to cite the most important Laws and Statutes of all , from the United Kingdom , namely that Fresh, Organic Raw Milk from Grass-fed cows is 100% legal and freely available from Her Majesty the Queen’s homeland . Please see https://www.food.gov.uk/business-industry/farmingfood/dairy-guidance/rawmilkcream#toc-4

How can this be one might ask ?

Raw Milk Injection Site? Why Not?

Action Alert from “Our Farm Our Food”

The following message was circulated today to the farmshare community around Michael Schmidt and Glencolton Farms:

“We need your quiet presence in court on Monday, September 26 and Tuesday September 27, 2016

Michael Schmidt, Agricultural Renewal Coop, mothers, fathers, pastors and anyone involved in fresh milk production or consumption is threatened with arrest if they continue to provide raw milk or even encourage others to provide raw milk. The court proceedings are giving us a voice and we need YOU to stand with us. With 70 affidavits from farm owners, Michael and the attorneys are making the argument that this is a case of public interest. We need you there to help prove it!

Background: York Region put in a motion for permanent injunction against distribution of raw milk. There is a motion in front of the court right now to have the application from York region to converted from an application to an action. This would change the dynamics of the procedure from a hearing before a judge to a trial before a jury. We want this case to appear before a jury.

ACTION: Show the courts this is a case of public interest! Join us in peaceful presence as we witness court proceedings against Michael Schmidt, his family, the entire herdshare and food freedom itself. Your presence is the strongest message we can send.

WHEN: Monday, September 26 and Tuesday, September 27, 2016, 8:30a.m.-4:00pm each day

WHERE: Ontario Court of Justice, 50 Eagle Street West, Newmarket Ontario. Self-parking is available”

The raw milk issue in Ontario is no longer just about Michael Schmidt

In spite of the massive public profile Michael has gained over the past twenty years he has been advocating for raw milk and the freedom to choose it, the raw milk access issue in Ontario is much bigger than Michael Schmidt.

And The Bovine’s change of masthead picture reflects that reality. The young woman in the new cover picture is milking a cow in a jurisdiction where anyone can buy raw milk in a store, just like they would buy any other kind of milk. By the way, that’s in California, where Mark McAfee farms (though this picture is not from his farm).

Of course, the fact that this woman is clearly milking the cow by hand should be your first clue that this is not a commercial operation. Yes, this is taking place on a real farm which provides food (vegetables) for other people, but the cow and the milk are just for those who live on the farm and share in the work.

Rally March 16, 8:30 am in Newmarket to Support Michael Schmidt, Raw Milk

From a recent news release from Kimberly Hartke:

Recent swat-style raids and arrest warrants on small farmers have inspired mothers and other activists to take their message, and a cow, to the courthouse where they plan to gather for a peaceful milk and cookies picnic. The rally will be at 8:30 am on March 16, 2016 Ontario Court of Justice 50 Eagle Street West in Newmarket Ontario.

The gathering will be followed by a court hearing to determine if an order will be issued to enforce the ban on distribution of raw milk in Ontario. Explicitly targeted by the application is anyone–mothers, farmers, fathers, health practitioners–who are engaged in distribution of raw milk or even ‘counseling others to….distribute unpasteurized milk.”             

London Calling — Goodbye Jeff Lucas

Jeff and Jill Lucas — at the party Sept. 6th

Last Saturday Sept 6th, friends gathered to say goodbye to Jeff Lucas and his wife Jill.

And while most of those present knew Jeff primarily though his work as a friend of the Toronto Waldorf School and co-founder of the Carrville Community Garden, it’s only right that we should as well honour him for his work towards raw milk food freedom, as a staunch supporter of Michael Schmidt and the raw milk  farmshare community.

Jeff helped provide citizen escorts for the blue bus during its weekly journey from Durham down to Thornhill during a time when there was concern over possible regulatory interference with the ongoing delivery of raw milk to cow share members.

The way to legal raw milk in Ontario?

From Glencolton Farms’ farmshare member Gary Wilson:

Steve Paikin’s The Agenda is a TVO public affairs program which recently dealt with raw milk.

I sent the following as an email to Sandra Gionas, the producer of “The Agenda with Steve Paikin” in response to the program ” Arthur Hill: Getting to a Raw Milk Deal”:

“Hi Sandra:

Although I was unable to watch this program at the time it was broadcast live, I was able to watch it later on your website. I was interested in watching this program because, since the year 2000, I have been drinking unpasteurized, unhomogenized milk from the Glencolton Farm. You may be surprised to learn that, after watching the program, I am largely in agreement with everthing Arthur Hill said. In particular, I am against the legalization of the sale of raw milk in Ontario without clear restrictions and guidelines.

Celebrating 20 yrs of Michael Schmidt’s struggle for raw milk freedom and food rights in the province of Ontario

It’s been 20 years since the first Grey-Bruce County health department raids on farmer Michael Schmidt over raw milk in 1994. To mark the occasion some friends held a party for Michael Schmidt last Saturday. This poem was from one of the presentations:

Raw Milk Sting

Poet Judith McGill with Michael Schmidt and friends at a party last Saturday to celebrate 20 years of the struggle for raw milk access and food rights in Ontario.

A poem by Judith McGill

We’ve known for some time through surveillance cameras

The comings and goings

of the bovine milk runners

the corridors they transverse

under the cloak of darkness

We know how they enter and deliver the stuff in its purest form

Then proceed silently back to the sunlit fields where it is grown in abundance

We have seen them fertilize the crop and then carry it under their coats to him

We know how it is stored in large vats and packaged in litre jars with white lids

Raw milk still illegal in Ontario says Ontario Court of Appeal in decision announced today, March 11, 2014

Raw milk farmer Michael Schmidt talks to a Radio Canada reporter last month during a break in the appeal hearing at Osgoode Hall in downtown Toronto. Today the judges announced their dismissal of Mr. Schmidt’s appeal, meaning that his 2011 conviction still stands.

The panel of three judges who heard farmer Michael Schmidt’s appeal last month, of his 2011 conviction by Justice Tetley on raw milk related charges, has now announced their dismissal of Mr. Schmidt’s appeal. The full text of their decision can be found at this link: http://www.ontariocourts.ca/decisions_index/new_releases.htm

The judges’ dismissal of Mr. Schmidt’s appeal means that the 2011 conviction by Justice Tetley still stands.