The legislation is unconstitutional, animal advocates say
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
An Ontario court is listening to arguments over the constitutionality of a piece of legislation designed to protect farms.
The provincial government passed Bill 156, the Security from Trespass and Protecting Food Safety Act in December 2020.
The law is “intended to protect farm animals, the food supply, farmers and others from risks that are created when trespassers enter places where farm animals are kept or when persons engage in unauthorized interactions with farm animals,” the government says. “The risks include the risk of exposing farm animals to disease and stress, as well as the risk of introducing contaminants into the food supply.”
But an animal rights group argues the bill is in violation of the constitution.
Preventing people from recording and sharing farm footage violates multiple rights like freedom of expression and the right to peaceful assembly, said Andrea Gonsalves, a lawyer for Animal Justice.
"This regime makes it illegal for animal rights advocates to gather the material to show the public what happens behind the closed doors, gates and fences of locations where farmed animals are raised, transported and slaughtered," she told the Superior Court of Justice on Oct. 30, CBC reported.
Animal Justice, journalist Jessica Scott-Reid and activist Louise Jorgensen launched the challenge in 2021.
The group wants parts of Bill 156 to be declared no force or effect under Section 52 of the Constitution Act.
This section of the law states the constitution is the “supreme law of Canada, and any law that is inconsistent with the provisions of the Constitution is, to the extent of the inconsistency, of no force or effect.”
The Ontario government argues the law fits within the constitution.
“The Legislation does not impede expression by activists, journalists, or anyone else, nor does it otherwise breach the Charter,” Maher Abdurahman, a spokesperson for the Ministry of the Attorney General, said in a statement, CTV reported.”
A bill like Bill 156 is being examined at the federal level.
Bill C-275, introduced by Conservative Ag Critic John Barlow in May 2022, would make it an offense for a person to enter onto a livestock farm without permission.
The bill finished its time in the committee stage on Oct. 18, 2023 and is now in the report stage.