Carlsbad Springs man says apology is not enough after Ontario drops illegal slaughterhouse charges

BY DAVID GONCZOL, THE OTTAWA CITIZEN

Mark Tijssen, a major in the Canadian Forces, stands in front of a meat smoker in November, 2009, containing the remains of a pig. Two years later, Crown prosecutors are dropping charges of operating an illegal slaughterhouse and distributing uninspected meat against him. Photograph by: David Gonczol, The Ottawa Citizen

“OTTAWA — A Carlsbad Springs man will be seeking financial compensation from the Ontario government for what he says is a two-year “malicious prosecution” after he and a member of his church jointly bought and slaughtered a pig in 2009.

On Tuesday, Crown prosecutors will be dropping charges of operating an illegal slaughterhouse and distributing uninspected meat against Mark Tijssen, a major in the Canadian Forces.

Raw milk question from an eco-village

Bovine reader Jason Barber writes in with a question:

I have a question that i have been unable to find a solution for by searching the internet. I live and work at O.U.R ecovillage on Vancouver island. The ecovillage is a sustainable demonstration site. So needless to say we have a lot of visitors. We’ve had a cow for the last two months and now that visitor season is coming into full swing I’m wanting to protect the visitors and our own butts from legal action stemming from the consumption of raw milk.  We see two options: have all visitors sign a wavier saying that they understand the risks associated with drinking raw milk; or, have every visitor pay a $1 cow share fee and also sign a waiver.

“Drop the pig and put your hands in the air” — National Post on Mark Tijssen

Canadian Constitution Foundation litigation director Karen Selick wrote this story for the National Post:

Mark Tijssen, the amateur butcher of Carlsbad Springs, with his sons. Landowner photo.

Taking away every Canadian’s right to butcher.

When a responsible citizen shared freshly slaughtered pork with a friend, the government sent in armed officers.

The maxim “Ignorance of the law is no excuse” made sense back in the days when the only kind of acts that were illegal were genuine crimes that caused palpable harm to innocent victims: murder, rape, theft, etc.

CBC News on Mark Tijssen asking for a judge instead of a justice of the peace, so he can cite Charter in pig sharing case

CBC News covers the Mark Tijssen case in a story titled “Pig slaughter case sees Ottawa man cite charter”:

Mark Tijssen, the man at the centre of the controversy, outside his Ottawa-area home. Photo courtesy of Michael Schmidt

An Ottawa man who faces charges after slaughtering a pig and sharing the meat with a friend wants an Ontario court judge to hear his case so he can mount a defence based on the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Mark Tijssen was charged under the Ontario Food Safety and Quality Act last November after a friend left his home in the eastern Ottawa community of Carlsbad Springs with 40 pounds of pork from a pig they had slaughtered.