Farm media were misled about new animal welfare legislation the Ontario Conservatives have launched in the legislature.
All of the spin by Agriculture Minister Ernie Hardeman and a number of farm organizations, such as Sheep Farmers of Ontario and the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, was about fines for animal activists trespassing on farms.
They could be fined up to $15,000.
What none of the spin masters said was that the same legislation calls for fines of up to
$130.000 for a first offence and $500,000 for a corporation for causing an animal distress.
Nor did anybody mention that animal activists deem dairy cattle in tie-stall housing or laying hens in cages to be in psychological distress.
Instead of praise, Hardeman ought to be vilified for daring to introduce such draconian and foolish legislation.
And the farm organizations that depend on the provincial government for "stable funding" ought to get a swift kick in the shins and ordered to lobby for farmers.
