Rare glimpse into dark arts of policy making at Ontario’s legislature and courts — how the big players do it

Contrast the events described in this story to the reception that the raw milk constituency has received over the years at Queen’s Park. Interesting that it was raw milk supporting MPP Randy Hillier who blew the whistle on this bipartisan effort to help out a big corporation in their time of need through special legislation. From Martin Regg Cohen, in the Toronto Star:

“EllisDon is the blue-chip construction company that called in its chits with the governing Liberals and opposition Tories. The firm had made massive campaign donations over the years, mostly to the grateful Liberals, and some Tories concluded that helping EllisDon could increase their share of future contributions.

StrategyCorp is the well-connected lobbying and consulting firm hired by EllisDon to do its bidding. The assignment: fix a delicate political and legal problem pitting EllisDon against unionized construction workers.

Protecting the grey rat snake in Ontario

From “letters” section Frontenac News  8 March 2012:

Recently, the Ontario Ministry of Natural resources (MNR) proposed new regulations to protect the gray rat snake. These regulations include three levels of exclusion zones around the snakes’ habitat reaching out as far as one kilometre from their known haunts. And just in case if you forgot how the MNR works, these regulations will restrict or prevent what you can do on your private property without compensation if a gray rat snake is found within 1000 meters of your land.

But what many people don’t know is the way that the MNR determines whether a species should be protected or not. A committee, all of whose members receive handsome per diems, looks at five criteria to determine whether a species in Ontario should be protected. However the committee and MNR do no research or studies themselves, but rely on information provided by the federal government.

The Rural Revolution is here in Ontario

The backstory on this movie from Bob Mackie is that it was released about 2005. It sat in limbo since then, being shown only within The Ontario Landowners. CBC had it for six months and did nothing. And Bob has just gained a release to use it for YouTube and that’s why it’s finally seeing the light of day. But in spite of the fact that it was made 6 years ago, the problem it describes has not gone away.

Food Freedom Day Toronto rally part 1

It was a beautiful sunny day in downtown Toronto, 11 am at Queen’s Park, where cowshare members, farmers and raw milk supporters gathered today to celebrate Food Freedom Day, on the fifth anniversary of the 2006 raid on Michael Schmidt’s Glencolton Farms. These are just a few of the many great photos we have from that rally. More later.

At one point in the rally everyone stood around in a circle.

News flash: Bipartisan group at Queen’s Park, including Randy Hillier and Greg Sorbara, working on raw milk solution

From Charlott VanGenechten, on the Support Michael Schmidt Facebook group:

Demonstrator at last Tuesday's Queen's Park rally. The message may actually be getting through!

“IMPORTANT!!! This just came in. A bipartisan group started by Randy Hillier and Greg Sorbara has been formed to pressure Premier McGinty into talking to Michael Schmidt.

The meeting should potentially be next week. DONT RELENT IN YOUR EFFORTS!!! Continue to rock the milk can!”

You can be we’ll be watching the situation closely over the next week.

Next Tuesday Michael is scheduled to speak at the Raw Milk Freedom Riders rally in Maryland, and on Wednesday he’ll be in Vancouver to face contempt of court charges related to the “Our Cows” cowshare farm, of which he is the agister.

Even Dalton McGuinty’s Facebook friends are urging him to “just talk to” Michael Schmidt about the raw milk

.

Meanwhile over on the Support Michael Schmidt Facebook page:

Ontario MPP Randy Hillier Applauds Raw Milk Activist Michael Schmidt

Farmer Michael Schmidt, seen here on Tuesday at a farmshare members' meeting in Thornhill, after having lost more than 30 pounds. Michael is now on day 20 of his hunger strike for responsible food freedom, drinking only water.

(QUEEN’S PARK) Randy Hillier, MPP for Lanark-Frontenac-Lennox & Addington applauded raw milk activist Michael Schmidt for his persistent battle for individual freedom. Last month, the Ontario Court of Justice overturned a lower court’s ruling against Schmidt and upheld the 15 charges that were brought against him by the province in 2006.

Schmidt held a press conference today at Queen’s Park; he is three weeks into a hunger strike to protest against the current regulations that prohibit individuals from legally acquiring raw milk in Ontario.

“Michael’s case with raw milk is a perfect example of the overzealous limits we place on individual freedom,” said Hillier. “His ongoing battle is just another example of the regulatory burden that an individual must deal with on a daily basis in this province.”

The raw politics of raw milk in Ontario

Raw milk farmer Michael Schmidt outside the courtroom in Newmarket immediately after his January 2010 acquittal on all 19 raw milk related charges, with supporters MPP Randy Hillier on his right and ex-Landowner Association president Jack McLaren on his left. The Province has since appealed that acquittal, and the outcome of the appeal is to be made public on September 16th.

We’ve just heard that the outcome of the Province’s appeal of Michael Schmidt’s acquittal on raw milk charges will be announced September 16th, instead of July 8th. Come September people will be back from their vacations and paying more attention to the news. And, as y’all may know, there’s gonna be an Ontario election in early October.

And as we also know, the current Ontario government — who are behind this appeal of Michael Schmidt’s acquittal — have been none too receptive to a private members bill to study the issues around raw milk (2006). In fact most government MPPs didn’t even show up for the discussion of the bill. In fact many cow share members and supporters were in the visitors’ gallery bearing witness to the fact that they didn’t deign to pop into the legislative chamber until the vote was called, on that cold winter day at Queen’s Park almost five years ago.

Jack McLaren wins Ottawa provincial PC nomination over veteran Tory and former cabinet minister Norm Sterling

Raw milk farmer Michael Schmidt outside the courtroom in Newmarket with supporters Randy Hillier on his right and ex-Landowner Association president Jack McLaren on his left.

Jack’s Landowner Association colleague at Queen’s Park, Randy Hillier, has been an outspoken supporter of raw milk legalization, even putting forth a private members’ bill to that effect. Liberal pundits have taken note of what they see as an alarming trend towards what they’re calling extremism within the provincial Progressive Conservative party, which they say the increasing influence and presence of the Landowner candidates is an indication of.

Here’s an excerpt from the Toronto Star story by Rob Ferguson:

“Norm Sterling, a veteran Progressive Conservative MPP and former cabinet minister, has been bounced as an Ottawa-area candidate for his party in Ontario’s fall election.

Sterling, whose 34-year career at Queen’s Park began when Bill Davis was premier, lost a tense nomination battle Thursday night in the riding of Carleton-Mississippi Mills to Ontario Landowners Association activist and cash-crop farmer Jack MacLaren after ballots were tallied in the Ottawa suburb of Kanata.

MPP Randy Hillier, MP Scott Reid seek amendment to enshrine property rights in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms

From Randy Hillier’s website:

MPP Randy Hiller, MP Scott Reid

Queens Park – Scott Reid, MP (Lanark-Frontenac-Lennox and Addington) and Randy Hillier, MPP (Lanark-Frontenac-Lennox and Addington) have announced they will jointly present resolutions in the House of Commons and the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to amend Canada’s Constitution, embedding property rights within the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Unlike other jurisdictions, Canada’s constitution contains no provision guaranteeing security or safety of property. This leaves Canadian citizens with no constitutional protection from seizure of property or unjust treatment.