Raw milk activist launches civil suit

VANCOUVER - another front in the fight for freedom of choice with respect to food has opened with the latest salvo from Gordon Watson, a co-founder and shareholder in the Our Cows herdshare in Chilliwack.

Watson, who faces charges for contempt of court along with Ontario raw milk activist Michael Schmidt, initiated a civil action in December against the Vancouver Coastal and Fraser Health Authorities. He alleges that health authority officials overstepped their statutory obligations in shutting down Our Cows, formerly known as Home on the Range, resulting in Watson losing property.

Watson seeks declarations affirming his right to milk from animals he owns either personally or jointly with others, damages totalling $31,002,000, and costs.

The move comes as a counterpunch to efforts by the health authorities to shut down Our Cows and prevent the distribution of raw milk to the shareholders who own the farm and its animals.

The farm’s original manager, Alice Jongerden, relinquished her duties in September 2010 in the face of contempt of Court charges for her continued involvement in the herdshare. Court documents filed by the Fraser Health Authority at the time described the distribution of raw milk from the herd as part of “a campaign of public defiance in support of the production of raw milk for human consumption”.

The herdshare reorganized as Our Cows shortly afterwards. Jason Gratl of the Vancouver firm Gratl & Co. and a past president of the BC Civil Liberties Association subsequently initiated a challenge to the legislation that made raw milk illegal for sale or distribution to people other than herd owners. Gratl claims the legislation is unconstitutional. The challenge is expected to have its day in court this December.

In the meantime, Watson says he’s launched his action as part of the ongoing battle.

“My civil suit is no mere posturing,” he told Country Life in B. C., arguing that his action seeks to hold the health authorities to account for what he terms their “malfeasance.”

“A jury trial is most important to what I’m doing,” he explained. “The campaign for real milk is just a piece on the board in the much bigger picture.”

With estimates placing the number of raw milk producers in B. C. at about a dozen, Watson sees his actions as striking a blow against the supply management system that he believes limits free enterprise in several agricultural commodities.

“The day I met Alice Jongerden, I said to her, ‘I am not interested in taking on the milk marketing board. I think we can do this ( cowsharing) legally by simply asserting our right to use and enjoy our property.’ But here we are, in the thick of it,” he said. “The Stalinist model has failed to supply real food. The free market will always deliver what people really want.”

By PETER MITHAM

February 2012 Country Life in BC