I Got A Ticket – Bill 156

So I got a ticket, peeps. This makes me a real, card-carrying activist!

I was bearing witness at Fearman’s Pork, in Burlington, ON with the group New Wave Activism, and The Ag Gag bill, Bill 156, was only halfway approved at the time. We were still figuring out what the new do’s and don’ts were, and we wanted to comply with the law while still exercising our Charter Right to gather peacefully and demonstrate. The cops advised us we could cross the streets only when the light indicated pedestrians could safely cross. No touching trucks, no touching pigs, no giving water to the pigs. So that’s what we were doing.

The police were in their usual spot, observing us and pretending to “protect” us whilst scrutinizing us for any minor infraction of the law, yet “not seeing” others commit these same minor infractions….but I digress…and we walked across all four crosswalks regularly with our signs. When a transport truck arrived loaded with pigs, we held up our signs and crossed, legally, wherever we were at the time so passing traffic could draw a correlation. Sometimes that was in the crosswalk in which the truck would be turning – but as we all know from the Highway Traffic Act, all vehicles must yield to the pedestrians’ right of way in a legal crosswalk.

No one stopped us. No one warned us. We had our instructions and felt within our rights to do what we were doing well within the parameters of the law.

And then a few weeks later, quite a few of us were approached and ticketed for an October 1 infraction of Bill 156 – “attempting to interfere with transport of livestock”….what the actual fuck??

To say were were gob-smacked is an understatement.

Apparently, according to the District Attorney’s department, security video taken at the scene showed us attempting to interfere with livestock transport by simply crossing legally in the crosswalk where the truck was slated to turn.

Again, what the actual fuck?

Somebody found the time to extract the video and take it to the DA to examine and determine if any laws were broken for which we could be charged. Who paid for that? Who pays for the no less than two and often four police officers who sit near where we peacefully protest twice a week for anywhere from two to four hours each time? And the all-consuming question: when did pedestrians’ right of way become moot?

And most importantly of all: WHY? Why do they care if we cross the crosswalk and occasionally slow a vehicle down? I can cross any street in this country, at my own personal speed, and cars are supposed to yield to me. It slows them down, sure, but I’m not interfering in their activities in any way, and they in turn, know I have this right.

But apparently, Fearmans’ Pork does not want people to have that right on the crosswalk in front of their property. Again, why? Why does it matter to them if a livestock truck takes three minutes to reach the parking spot where they have yet another hour to wait for off-loading? What’s the rush, guys? And what are they trying to hide? Why don’t they want us to be able to see into the trucks? The trucks have holes in them so the pigs get fresh air (breathing in their own feces, vomit, and exhaust is as fresh as they are going to get at this point), and as a result. we can see in the trucks to take a picture of the conditions, but for some reason we are not allowed to do that anymore. That is now in direct violation of Bill 156, the Ag Gag bill. Whatever is going on in those trucks is a SECRET. You, the consumers, are not allowed to see where your food comes from and what happens to it anymore. YOU have to now simply believe the propaganda when the commercials say “organic, grain fed” “pasture raised” “non GMO” “no hormones” “happy, laughing” etc. You have to believe it, because Big Agriculture says so.

And you, by your silence while Bill 156 was pending, gave them permission to do this to you. Thanks to Sam for documenting this travesty and allowing me to post the video.

New Wave Activism: Press Release #1

Animal rights activists say they are not being given the same opportunity to speak out on Bill 156 as other organizations. Bill 156, the Security from Trespass and Protecting Food Safety Act, 2020 will prevent activists from accessing and exposing abusive treatment of livestock in farms, slaughterhouses, and transport vehicles by both staff and production processes.

Members of New Wave Activism say this bill effectively terminates their ability to “bear witness”: drawing close to the side of the trailer, documenting the condition of the animals, and offering some water, which the animals may not have had for up to 40 hours. It’s an action which is crucial to the movement’s vigils in the area, and all over the world.

New Wave Activism bears witness multiple times a week at Fearmans’ Pork, Harvester Road in Burlington.They hold signs, do outreach, and try to raise awareness as to what happens to animals destined for the slaughterhouse. . However, their most important activity is stopping the trucks to bear witness to the pigs.

Julie Brar, long-time member of NWA., said, “Bearing witness means offering to the animal what may be the first compassion they’ve ever received. For a sentient being, compassion is a fundamental right.”

In order for activists to bear witness, trucks need to stop, which often happens at red lights, but which can also be done voluntarily at a drivers’ and his company’s discretion. However, Brar noted many of the truck drivers are uncooperative, and many activists have reported increasingly aggressive driving, with trucks breaking traffic laws regularly, while police look the other way.

“We have footage of trucks accelerating through the intersection and running red lights in full view of police, who look the other way,” Brar said. “Its giving us the distinct impression that the police are not neutral participants.”.

It’s gotten worse, Brar said, since the death of local activist Regan Russell, a native of Hamilton, who was killed June 19 by a transport truck at the gates of Fearman’s Pork, while she was walking through the crosswalk. Many of the group witnessed the tragic event, and agree, the truck drivers are becoming much more aggressive with Bill 156 looming.

Of Bill 156, Brar said the public needs to understand what activists do is not “tampering” or interfering with their business – the trucks don’t stop running altogether – but maybe for a brief moment, the animals in transport might feel some measure of comfort. It also allows activists to get close enough to determine the condition of the animals, which would go a long way to keeping welfare checks and balances in place for the animals and ensure transparency within the industries. In fact, some drivers, those who tend to cooperate with the activists and stop for them voluntarily, have said since they have to wait for a while inside the gates to be off-loaded anyway, it could just as easily be for those few minutes outside the gates.

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  Centre with orange sign: Regan Russell, killed during a vigil at Fearman’s Pork, Burlington, ON.

“We just want a chance to make our message heard. This bill is designed to obscure the industry from the public’s purview,” she said, adding she wondered what they were trying to hide.

“Forget transparency. You think you know what you are getting because they have to put ingredients on packages, but that doesn’t account for what happens to the animals themselves from birth to death. Their treatment has a huge impact not only on the animals themselves, but also consumers,” Brar said. “With this Bill, it will all be swept under the rug.”

The Provincial Animal Welfare Services (PAWS) Act, which came into effect January 1, 2020, which the industry offers as a viable tool, offers protection for all animals with basic care, food, shelter and transportation – but lists certain exceptions, which could be applied to livestock.

“Basically, they are considered commodities not sentient beings who deserve life as much as we do,” Brar said.

“Two minutes is all we ask to compassionately commune with these living sentient beings. It’s not too much to ask when the end result, their egregious death, is forever.”

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Why One and Not the Other?

Let me play devil’s advocate for a minute.

What if pigs, cows and chickens were not used for food. What if they were, let’s say, roaming the wilds like elephants, deer, and rhinos. And what if you found out, through some undercover activists, that there were places where these animals were kept and bred for an unnecessary use, like trophies, rather than for food. And what if this enterprise kept these animals in dirty, deplorable conditions; beat them, cut off horns and tails without anaesthetic, forcibly impregnated them to control births, prevented them from seeing the light of day by keeping them in tight metal cages and just generally abused them in order to profit off them. And they are not food. Think elephants, dogs, cats…

Would you be appalled? Would you be angry? Wouldn’t you do everything you could to lobby for the animals’ freedom? Wouldn’t you picket these organizations; produce petitions to be signed; sneak in to take videos to show the world what is actually going on? A warehouse full of dogs kept in metal crates, their puppies laying in their own filth around them. Like puppy mills but for cows, pigs, and chickens.

Wouldn’t you think this is a bad thing? That humans were evil to the core to be able to do that to innocent beings? I mean, they are not being used for food, we have loads of other things to eat – remember this is hypothetical. Try to be honestly neutral here.

You would, I know it. I can see the articles being shared on Facebook, IG and Twitter. I can see your comments. They are the same ones I see under pictures of abused dogs and cats. The same ones I see plastered all over; photos of Trump Jr. and his slaughtered trophies; Michael Vick and his bait and fighting dogs; carcasses of elephants missing tusks. I know you would think it was wrong.

So why is it alright now?

Why is it ok for cows, pigs, and chickens? Because we eat them? So there are certain animals we can abuse and some we can not. Why? Are they lesser in some way? Are they ugly? Is that it? An abomination to our senses? No…Do they damage our property, encroach in our neighbourhoods, steal our children? No…What do they do that gives us the right to maim and kill them when other animals are protected?

Why one and not the other?

That is All.

Ag Gag bill 156

Transparency.

Everyone wants it. In every layer of society we insist on it: governments, boardrooms, companies, charitable organizations, even ingredients on packages. We want this information so we can make informed and bi-partisan decisions on what we want to purchase, ingest, and otherwise use in our daily lives.

We want to know if that outfit was sewn by sweatshops in India or by free trade employees. We want to know if the car we purchase supports our economy and our labourers. We want to know if our energy is sustainable, if the choices our politicians are making is reflective of our beliefs, if our purchases are doing damage to our environment. We have a right to spend our hard-earned salaries on what we want based on our individual consciences and preferences; and we have a right to know the effects, both long-term and short, on our world. And nobody – not even the Prime Minister – is exempt!

Oh wait…no… there is one group which feels they are exempt from transparency; who feel what goes on behind closed doors should stay behind closed doors, refusing to be accountable to the public – that same public who is expected to purchase and consume their products like automatons, never asking questions, never learning the truth, just following along believing the pretty propaganda put forth by their media machine.

Yep, I’m talking about Big Agriculture. Big Ag, as it’s fondly referred to by those immersed in its gloomy shade.

In November 2019, as published by the Animal Protection Party of Canada, Alberta introduced Bill 29, the Trespass Statutes (Protecting Law-Abiding Property Owners) Amendment. This bill passed extremely quickly, in response to complaints by Big Ag regarding a couple of earlier events, where activists peacefully occupied a hog farm, and later a turkey farm, and bore witness to the despicable conditions and treatment of the animals housed there, going so far as to video tape and then expose it publicly. The resulting hue and cry was tremendous, as Canadians rose up in horror at the reality of where and how their food is produced. Big Ag was not impressed.

And why would they be? If it wasn’t for those meddling activists, (Scooby Doo much?) their routine would have continued unabated, with animals being cruelly raised and treated and sold to unsuspecting consumers, whilst filling Big Ag’s already over-extended wallet. And consumers, unaware of the facts, would sheepily continued to purchase said products and hand over their hard earned funds right into the fat, greasy palms of the business.

In Toronto, meanwhile, Riding-Regency Beef Packing plant was shut down in September of 2019, due to activists exposing the horrific and unhygienic conditions therein, and inhumane treatment of the animals shipped there. Multiple recalls of tainted meat sealed the deal.

Those darned activists again!

Now, December 2019, Ontario Big Ag is following in Alberta’s footsteps. Bill 156 has been introduced. This bill would see anyone convicted of trespassing at a farm or slaughterhouse face a fine of up to $25,000. It would also outlaw picketing, demonstrating, or otherwise interfering with vehicles in transit to or from said premises. And perhaps more importantly of all, it would criminalize entering those businesses under cover: potential whistleblowers would face serious charges for entering the farm or slaughterhouse under “false pretenses”.

That is some heavy shit, peeps. And I just have to think what is Big Ag afraid of? What are they trying to hide? Because surely, if all was copasetic, there would be no reason to implement Bill 156.

I‘ve been to those demonstrations, peeps. We don’t impede their business. We simply hold signs and try to educate the public. At the Save Movement Vigils, we simply offer water to the pigs in transport, who have been in the truck often for days with no food or water, in either sub zero temperatures or scorching heat. We stay clear of the front of moving trucks and try really hard to not let our emotions get the better of us when we hear the screaming of the pigs as they are gassed. That being said, I’m sure there is the odd activist who let’s their heart lead their head at these events, but for the most part, they are peaceful demonstrations intended to let the public know just what is going on in these places.

More importantly, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees us the right to civil disobedience and peaceful protest. Big Ag has NO RIGHT AT ALL TO IMPEDE OUR CANADIAN CHARTER RIGHTS. But they think they do…

Basically, Big Ag doesn’t want anyone to know what goes on inside their farms and slaughterhouses.

Why? Because if we knew, we might, as compassionate and thinking humans, boycott their products to hold them accountable for their atrocities, and they would lose money. Right now, the system they have in place has been in practice for long enough for them to have it down pat: low output, high revenue. The animals are commodities, simple as that. If one piglet dies, oh well there are seven more. Just leave it there to rot with its siblings because moving it costs money in that someone has to go in there and retrieve it and dispose of it. May as well wait til the piglets are grown enough (17 days or so) to be removed from their mother, and get rid of it then with all the feces and other detritus. The mother will be sent to a place to be forcibly inseminated again, and again, and again, and the current batch of babies will go to be fed hormones and gmo grains and antibiotics (for their infections which are not treated because it involves some extra work) in order for them to reach adult size in six months, upon which time they will be shipped for slaughter. It’s a compact system that requires very little effort for maximum remuneration and they don’t want to change that – and having their practices exposed by whistleblowers will surely cause that to happen.

And so they have come up with a plan: Bill 156.

A Bill to silence those who are trying to speak for those who cannot.

This is a dangerous precedent, peeps. You think it’s minor because it’s “just animals” but let me tell you, once one aspect of our lives is gagged, expect a whole lot more to come rolling in. Pro-Choice? They’ll have a Bill for that. Gender discrimination? They’ll have a bill for that. Mental Health issues? They’ll have a Bill for that.

And what about the public’s “Right to Rescue”? How can we exercise that right if we can’t access the venues wherein those needing to be rescued reside? What about a child needing to be rescued? With Bill 156, technically, no one could secretly expose abusers anymore.

Whether you are an animal activist or not, vegan or omnivore, YOU CAN’T LET THIS BILL BE PASSED! You must speak up and oppose this Bill, or you won’t be able to speak up and be heard about anything else. Big Ag isn’t the only huge conglomerate out there trying to hide behind their goldspun images. Find a loophole for one, and you open the door to a whole gaggle of loopholes intent on silencing dissenters. Imagine silencing Martin Luther King Jr.? Or William Lyon Mackenzie? Or Susan B. Anthony? Or Emmeline Pankhurst?

You mustn’t be fooled into thinking this battle is only for vegans and Animal Rights Activists. This battle is for you and your children and your children’s children.

You want to know what you eat? How it’s processed? What you wear? Where it comes from? How it’s made? STOP BILL 156