Randy Hillier, MPP for Lanark-Frontenac-Lennox and Addington and cow share owner, congratulates Michael Schmidt in his victorious three year battle for freedom against the McGuinty government. Yesterday in a Newmarket courtroom, Justice Kowarsky dismissed 19 charges connected to Michael Schmidt’s sale of raw, unpasteurized milk to members of a cow-share cooperative in Durham Region.
“Yesterday’s decision is a victory for freedom,” stated Hillier. “This is just another example of excessive government and intrusive over-regulation that has become the hallmark of Dalton McGuinty’s nanny state. Michael has fought hard to expose the hypocrisy of making raw milk totally illegal, and yesterday he was vindicated. Justice Kowarsky ought to also be commended for his thoughtful and detailed decision which took three hours to deliver. He has defended our fundamental freedoms and our rights as individuals.”
While unpasteurized milk sales are legal in many industrialized countries, Ontario law states that it is illegal to “sell, offer for sale, deliver or distribute milk or cream that has not been pasteurized or sterilized”, although it is still legal to consume. Mr. Schmidt’s case has been before the courts for three years, and began when The Ministries of Agriculture and Natural Resources raided his farm, with police assistance, in 2006.
“To me, this case is about individual responsibility. Do we have responsibility and are we allowed to make choices? Are we subordinate to the state for our diet?” said Hillier. “If I’d like to eat something, or drink something, I should and must have that right. A government that owns a monopoly on the sale of liquor has no place telling me that milk is harmful to my health.”
“This case is a wake-up call, and I believe that this should encourage the Minister of Agriculture to re-examine how the ministry treats farmers. All they want to do is sell their product. It’s time for the legislature to reconsider the health promotion and protection act.”
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