Page 100 - Winter2017

of Rights and Freedoms. The Canadian Supreme Court has interpreted this provision to mean that, if it takes more
than eighteen months between the time charges are brought and the end of trial in provincial court cases, there is an
automatic presumption the delay is unreasonable. In Schmidt’s case, the Justice agreed with the Crown’s argument that
the presumption shouldn’t apply because there were exceptional circumstances in the case. 1
A petition on Change.org to free Schmidt that drew over seventy-five hundred signatures helped draw greater at-
tention to the draconian sentence given the farmer who was only trying to keep the government from confiscating the
private property of his shareholders—property the government arguably didn’t have jurisdiction to take. The petition
noted that when tainted meat from Maple Leaf Foods was found to have killed twenty-two people and sickened many
more in 2008, the Crown never brought charges against anyone with the company. Schmidt has produced raw milk for
over thirty years; no one has ever accused him of making anyone sick. 2
For the last twenty-three years the government has unsuccessfully tried to shut down Schmidt’s efforts to provide
healthy dairy products to educated and informed consumers; its endless harassment has cost taxpayers millions of dol-
lars and made a North American icon out of a small farmer in the process. Schmidt might not have been able to change
the law but he has had a huge impact, substantially increasing the demand for and supply of raw milk since the time the
government started persecuting him. There are significantly more dairy farmers in Canada today distributing raw milk
through herdshare and farm-share programs; Schmidt’s decades-long campaign of non-violent resistance to unjust laws
has emboldened them. The situation in Canada with the prohibition on raw milk sales in all provinces is becoming more
similar to the situation in the U.S. with the interstate raw milk ban; greater numbers of otherwise law-abiding citizens
are violating these laws with regularity. It’s time for provincial and municipal governments in Canada to acknowledge
reality, leave Schmidt alone, and stop interpreting provincial raw milk laws to cover distribution to farm and dairy animal
owners.
Michael Schmidt and Eliza Vander Hoot are trying to raise funds to cover the cost of his court battle. Those support-
ing freedom of choice are encouraged to back Schmidt’s fight by donating at GoFundMe.com/foodrights. The farmer is
a little more than half way to reaching his goal of raising one hundred thousand dollars.

1. Don Crosby, “Raw Milk Advocate Schmidt Found Guilty of Obstruction,” The Owen Sound Sun Times, 20 October 2017. Accessed 11/30/2017
at http://www.owensoundsuntimes.com/2017/10/20/raw-milk-advocate-schmidt-found-guilty-of-obstruction.
2. Laura Redman, “FREE Ontario FARMER Michael Schmidt – CHANGE CANADA’s ARCHAIC RAW MILK LAW”, Change.org, November 2017.
Accessed 11/30/2017 at http://www.change.org/p/kathleen-wynne-free-ontario-farmer-michael-schmidt-change-canada-s-archaic-raw-
milk-law.

2017 CHAPTER LEADER MEETING

Addressing the 2017 chapter leader meeting are Pete Kennedy, who spoke on the
campaign to legalize raw milk in the last seven states, and Judith McGeary who
summarized WAPF work on the farm bill and animal identification.

100 Wise Traditions WINTER 2017