This guy is fighting for his rights!!!
January 26, 2009
Dairy farmer Michael Schmidt argued today in a Newmarket court that the charges laid against him for distributing raw milk are unconstitutional.
The 54-year-old farmer from Durham Ont. faces 20 charges under the Health Protection and Promotion Act and the Milk Act, which stem from his production, storage and distribution of raw milk.
In Canada, it is illegal to sell or distribute raw milk because health officials consider it a health hazard.
In his opening statement, Schmidt, who is representing himself at trial, argued the charges infringe on his personal rights and freedoms and said there is no law that prohibits a person from drinking raw milk.
The case, he said, "touches on the core values of our God-given rights" as spelled out in the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Canadian Bill of Rights and the "rights protected by our own constitution."
Earlier in the proceedings, Schmidt pleaded not guilty to all 20 charges. But in an agreed statement of facts, Schmidt admitted that milk and dairy products produced on his Glencolton Farms are unpasteurized.
More than 40 of Schmidt's supporters crammed into the small courthouse in Newmarket. Close to 20 others, men and women of all ages and even some children, lined up outside the door so they could rotate seats inside the courtroom to hear some of the proceedings.
Schmidt told the court he will argue that the Crown's evidence was not obtained in good faith.
The Ministry of Natural Resources staged a "well-organized, sophisticated undercover operation" with 20 armed agents to raid his cow-share operation, he said. The raid on his house and his farm was a "humiliating experience," he said.
Schmidt said he also plans to argue that the laws surrounding mandatory pasteurization are unconstitutional. He also said that the Crown represents the bureaucratic interests of government and industry.
"They will throw evidence at us like the U.S. threw bombs at Iraq," he told the court.
In the Crown's opening statement, Allen Ryan, a lawyer representing the Ministry of Natural Resources, summarized how ministry officials obtained Schmidt's milk and dairy products and determined that they were unpasteurized.
John Middlebrow, a lawyer representing the Grey-Bruce Health Unit, which laid three of the 20 charges against Schmidt, said the Crown maintains raw milk is a vehicle of transmission for pathogens and that it is the health unit's "statutory duty to eliminate health hazards and uphold principles of public health." Middlebrow said the charges against Schmidt were brought "in the interest of public health."
The province maintains the Health Protection and Promotion Act and the Milk Act are constitutional.
Schmidt claims he is not selling raw milk, but fairly distributing it to the cow's owners, all of whom participate in his cow-share program and who pay to board the cows at his farm. The prohibition of raw milk in Ontario does not apply to farmers who often drink farm-fresh milk. In fact, Schmidt drank a big gulp from a mason jar in court during a recess.
A similar trial over the constitutionality of raw milk laws is scheduled to take place in British Columbia in the spring.
The trial, which is expected to last seven days, continues this afternoon.
—With files from The Canadian Press
January 26, 2009
Dairy farmer Michael Schmidt argued today in a Newmarket court that the charges laid against him for distributing raw milk are unconstitutional.
The 54-year-old farmer from Durham Ont. faces 20 charges under the Health Protection and Promotion Act and the Milk Act, which stem from his production, storage and distribution of raw milk.
In Canada, it is illegal to sell or distribute raw milk because health officials consider it a health hazard.
In his opening statement, Schmidt, who is representing himself at trial, argued the charges infringe on his personal rights and freedoms and said there is no law that prohibits a person from drinking raw milk.
The case, he said, "touches on the core values of our God-given rights" as spelled out in the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Canadian Bill of Rights and the "rights protected by our own constitution."
Earlier in the proceedings, Schmidt pleaded not guilty to all 20 charges. But in an agreed statement of facts, Schmidt admitted that milk and dairy products produced on his Glencolton Farms are unpasteurized.
More than 40 of Schmidt's supporters crammed into the small courthouse in Newmarket. Close to 20 others, men and women of all ages and even some children, lined up outside the door so they could rotate seats inside the courtroom to hear some of the proceedings.
Schmidt told the court he will argue that the Crown's evidence was not obtained in good faith.
The Ministry of Natural Resources staged a "well-organized, sophisticated undercover operation" with 20 armed agents to raid his cow-share operation, he said. The raid on his house and his farm was a "humiliating experience," he said.
Schmidt said he also plans to argue that the laws surrounding mandatory pasteurization are unconstitutional. He also said that the Crown represents the bureaucratic interests of government and industry.
"They will throw evidence at us like the U.S. threw bombs at Iraq," he told the court.
In the Crown's opening statement, Allen Ryan, a lawyer representing the Ministry of Natural Resources, summarized how ministry officials obtained Schmidt's milk and dairy products and determined that they were unpasteurized.
John Middlebrow, a lawyer representing the Grey-Bruce Health Unit, which laid three of the 20 charges against Schmidt, said the Crown maintains raw milk is a vehicle of transmission for pathogens and that it is the health unit's "statutory duty to eliminate health hazards and uphold principles of public health." Middlebrow said the charges against Schmidt were brought "in the interest of public health."
The province maintains the Health Protection and Promotion Act and the Milk Act are constitutional.
Schmidt claims he is not selling raw milk, but fairly distributing it to the cow's owners, all of whom participate in his cow-share program and who pay to board the cows at his farm. The prohibition of raw milk in Ontario does not apply to farmers who often drink farm-fresh milk. In fact, Schmidt drank a big gulp from a mason jar in court during a recess.
A similar trial over the constitutionality of raw milk laws is scheduled to take place in British Columbia in the spring.
The trial, which is expected to last seven days, continues this afternoon.
—With files from The Canadian Press
