Canadian Military Resumes Armed Invasion of Farm

The Department of National Defence put in
place barricades, and moved in dumpsters to
the Meyers farm overnight.

The Department of National Defence (DND) has resumed its armed invasion of the Trenton, Ontario farm of 86-year-old Frank Meyers. Overnight, under the cover of darkness, the DND moved on to the farm, blocking Meyers' lane way access to his farm buildings, and moving in empty dumpsters, presumably in preparation for the demolition of the farm buildings.

The DND first attempted to take Meyers' farm and demolish the structures in January of this year, following the forced expropriation of the private property for the purpose of building a training facility for Joint Task Force 2, a highly secretive military "anti-terrorism" unit. The first attempt to take over Meyers' farm was blocked by an outpouring of public support for the elderly farmer, culminating in a peaceful occupation of the farm by supporters in the dead of winter.

Months have now passed since the DND was stood down by Meyers and his supporters, national media attention has died down and the voluntary round-the-clock monitoring of the property by occupiers became difficult to maintain. While some presumed silence on the part of the DND meant that they would accept temporary defeat, holding out on seizing the land until the elderly farmer dies, it seems the military was only waiting for the more favourable conditions of springtime to carry out their armed invasion.

Supporters of Meyers, communicating via their Facebook support page, are calling for a mass demonstration at the Meyers farm, 209 Meyers Creek Road, Trenton, Ontario, to block the demolition of the farm buildings. Online supporters of the farmer are using hashtag #SaveFranksFarm.

Neither Major Ronald Nelson, the man in charge of the demolition of the buildings, nor the Public Affairs Office of CFB Trenton could be reached for comment at the time of publication. Attempts continue to be made to reach officials at CFB Trenton. This article will be updated as information becomes available.

Read prior posts about the Meyers military expropriation here.

Entering the Raw Milk Underground

This article was also published on The Art of Not Being Governed Blog.

This week I descended, unprotected by the solicitous watch of government, into Ontario’s raw milk underground. Well … I’ve yet to be fully initiated; I haven’t even bought any milk yet.

Not yet...

Like in any subversive marketplace, aside from a few vocal advocates, most players on the raw milk scene seem intent on maintaining a high level of privacy as a means of protection against punishment by the state. On Monday afternoon I had a rendez-vous with a “mooshiner” * (someone who deals in raw milk) at a southern Ontario Tim Hortons, trepidatious though they were about the encounter.

While I’ve always been a dairy lover, I’m not much of a foodie otherwise, and therefore never took too much of an interest in issues surrounding food and farm freedom. However, my amble into the raw milk underground began when I wrote about attacks on Ontario farmers by government, mostly from a property rights perspective and stemming from my interest in the expropriation case of Trenton Ontario farmer Frank Meyers.

After writing a blog post on the subject of farmers coming up against government, in which I mentioned the case of raw milk farmer Michael Schmidt, I received a message from someone asking if I was looking for milk, and suggesting that we should connect, if so. My interest was piqued, but after a little bit of communication, my first raw milk contact was spooked by the fact that I was publicly blogging and socially networking about raw milk, among other topics – too much exposure!

Drawn in by the creamy intrigue of the illicit milk trade, I posted on social media about my contact being spooked, and made an appeal for someone willing to sell me some milk. Eventually, a mooshiner did agree to meet me at a Tim Hortons, though they were cautious about what they could tell me, for fear that I may publish some information that would reveal their identity and connection to the raw milk trade. No milk sale was made at our first meeting – trust has to be established first.

We spoke for about an hour, and I learned a lot about the inner-workings of Ontario’s raw milk market, some of which I hope to share with you as I gain a better understanding of the milk landscape.

This mooshiner’s insistence on privacy and discretion, I learned, is based on a fear of reprisal by the government – the crown, local health boards and the CFIA -, the individual farmers whom they represent, as well as the Dairy Farmers of Ontario (DFO), the organization responsible for dispensing legal milk quotas worth hundreds of thousands, or millions of dollars to each farmer.

The mooshiner I met estimates that the majority of dairy farmers in Ontario – as many as 80% - engage in illegal “back door sales” of raw milk, and that almost all dairy farmers drink raw milk themselves. If that’s the case, then why don’t more farmers speak out in favour of raw milk legalization?

Under current legislation, most notably the Ontario Milk Act, dairy farmers are prohibited from selling milk outside of the DFO administered quota system. Quota-holding farmers are contractually bound to the DFO to produce a certain amount of milk to be pasteurized and centrally distributed for sale. Overproduction is penalized. Overproducing farmers are able to recoup some of the cost of production of the milk beyond their quota, as well as the associated penalties, by conducting back door sales. However, openly selling raw milk is a huge risk for quota-holding farmers, since being caught doing so would leave them without a quota that allows them to sell their milk to be pasteurized and distributed in the regulated marketplace, with fines and legal fees, and prohibited from selling any milk (raw or not) to provide them with a source of revenue.

I left the Tim Hortons without milk in hand, but on friendly terms with my new mooshiner acquaintance. Though more comfortable than at the outset, they were still concerned about what I might publicly divulge of our meeting, worrying that they might be identified.

It feels somewhat surreal to be operating in such a clandestine manner in order to procure something as seemingly benign as milk. I’m still learning about raw milk – so can’t speak too much to its health benefits or risks, but I’m sure that I’m not the only one who finds it ludicrous that I should have to enter into a “criminal” underground in order to voluntarily transact to buy food for myself, right?

Stay tuned for updates on my underground milk adventures!

*Try to come up with some milk and cow puns of your own for hours of fun!

Ontario Farms Under Attack

Since I began writing about Frank Meyers’ ongoing battle with the Canadian military to save his farm from armed invasion and seizure by the government, and in interacting with supporters of the 85-year-old Ontario farmer, issues of food and farm freedom have come onto my radar and interested me in a way they hadn’t before.

Ontario raw milk crusader Michael Schmidt

My interest in the Frank Meyers case was mostly due to what I see as an outright assault by the government on the right of all Canadians to own property – property of any sort; not just farms, homes or land. In interacting with Frank’s supporters I learned that many were drawn to support Frank’s cause due to an affinity for family-run farms, concerns about food security, genetically modified organisms and the like.

As a result, I have recently become acquainted with the cases of two other Ontario farmers who have come under assault by the state for engaging in peaceful and voluntary farming practices deemed inappropriate by legislators and bureaucrats.

Michael Schmidt, a Durham Ontario dairy farmer, has been providing families with raw milk since 1991. Schmidt has been at the forefront of the raw milk crusade in Canada, and has been at war with the Ontario government for many years. His cow share co-op provides fresh, raw milk to 150 families (over 600 people) in Ontario.

Despite the fact that his cow share scheme does not violate Ontario’s current raw milk laws, as co-op members own a portion of his cows and are not buying the milk from Schmidt, and members have not reported a single case of illness from the milk, his farm has been raided multiple times by government agencies, equipment stolen and product destroyed.

Schmidt has been convicted and fined on raw milk offences and seen those convictions overturned, only to have courts reverse the decision once more. Tomorrow, February 5, 2014, Michael Schmidt, represented by the Canadian Constitution Foundation, will appear before the Court of Appeal of Ontario in a final appeal of his convictions.

Montana Jones says a tearful goodbye to one of her sheep as
armed police look on.
Photo credit - ShropshireSheep.org

Sadly, Michael Schmidt is not the only Ontario farmer to be subjected to farm raids and property theft and destruction by government agencies. Shepherdess Montana Jones, who raised rare Shropshire sheep, began her battle with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) after a sheep she sold in 2007 to a farm in Alberta, tested positive for scrapie.

Scrapie is a disease that affects sheep, but is not transmittable to humans. In 2011, the CFIA ordered a quarantine of Jones’ sheep and tested them for scrapie. Despite the fact that not one of Jones' sheep tested positive for scrapie, the CFIA, citing that the test is only 88% accurate, announced that it would proceed with the euthanasia of the entire flock.

It is alleged, at this point, that Jones, in conspiracy with raw milk farmer Michael Schmidt, had the flock removed from her farm, in order to evade capture and euthanasia of the sheep by the CFIA. The sheep were later discovered on a farm south of Owen Sound Ontario and subsequently euthanized.

I cannot claim to be knowledgeable about the health implications of drinking raw milk, or the genetics of Shropshire sheep, so I will leave those issues to more qualified parties. What I do see in these cases, are individuals who peacefully and voluntarily interacted with their customers to provide a product or service. As a result of their peaceful and consensual activity, they were subjected to threats, and ultimately, raids on their property by agents of the government.

If every man has a right to life, and to not have that right infringed upon by others, then by extension, does he not have the right to sustain his life (i.e. feed himself) according to his own will? Even if, as the government claims, raw milk is dangerous to the health of those who consume it, does not a right to one’s own life, like any right, also imply the ability to dispose of that right in any manner one sees fit?

A Message to Military and Police Employees Re: Frank Meyers' Farm

This article was also published on The Art of Not Being Governed Blog.

On November 29, we learned that 85-year-old Ontario farmer Frank Meyers had finally caved to government threats, signing a contract to sell his farm to the Department of National Defence. I have spent much time, since then, considering my response to this news.

Read previous posts about the Frank Meyers' battle with the government here, here and here.

First, Frank Meyers' ultimate decision - to submit to the government's demand that he sell his farm - is not to be condemned. At the end of the day, Frank had to make the difficult decision, in order to preserve his own life, and to mitigate the harm done to himself and his family by the government through its agents; police officers, military members, court and elected officials.

Let me be clear. The contract that Frank Meyers signed with the Department of National Defence is not valid and must not be taken as a voluntary agreement. Frank Meyers signed the contract under duress, with the guns of the state pointed at him, his family and his farm. Meyers said, "They threatened me, that’s what it was. They told us if I didn’t take the money they wanted to give me they would go to court and I wouldn’t get half of what they offered me. That’s what they said."

Notwithstanding the clear lack of consent, I do not believe that the individuals responsible for the initial decision to expropriate the Meyers farm are at all likely to, in an unprecedented act of humanity, change their minds and leave Frank Meyers alone, either because they suddenly recognize and respect the need for consent or because they are moved by letters, e-mails and tweets of their "constituents".

Since I first wrote about the Meyers case, I have taken heat from other supporters of Frank for my condemnation of military members and police officers for their roles in the expropriation of the farm. Critics told me that military members, and police, both in general and those who have been involved in the Meyers eviction, probably don't agree with the government taking this action, and that they are just following orders. This is my message to government employees - police, military members, court officials, military contractors, etc. - like the ones described by many of my critics:

If it is true that you do not agree with the government's action to expropriate Frank's farm, then you must realize that it is not the government who is acting to steal Mr. Meyers property, but individuals, including yourself, whose actions make this theft possible. If, as it has been presented to me, it is not the enforcers and administrators of laws and government policies who want to carry out this theft, but a small group of immoral decision-makers, then why do not the good men and women who, I am told work for the government, refuse to carry out these immoral and criminal orders?

If you are a police officer who enforces the DND's claimed ownership of the Meyers farm, and would be prepared to arrest Frank Meyers or his guests as trespassers on his own farm, you are a party to theft.

If you are a court employee who would work to support a process that would see Frank Meyers or his guests prosecuted as trespassers on the farm, you are a party to theft.

If you are a member of the military who would work at the new Joint Task Force training facility to be built on the Meyers farm, you are a party to theft.

If you are a military contractor, or a local resident who would work to build the new facility or to service it once built, you are a party to theft, and you are guilty of profiting from the proceeds of a criminal act.

I implore those "good" government employees, if they exist, to affirm their morality by refusing to act to support the theft of Frank Meyers' farm. While it may not sit well with you to admit, if you do not refuse to follow orders that support theft, then you are not a good person, as you would claim to be, but a thief and a criminal.