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Ontario ag-gag appeal concludes, court ruling pending

Animal advocates argue law violates free expression; province defends focus on trespass, not speech

Reading Time: 3 minutes Animal rights advocates challenge the constitutionality of Ontario’s Security from Trespass Act, arguing it stifles undercover exposés and infringes on Charter freedoms; government defends the law as targeting trespass, not speech.









File photo of a desk in Canada’s Senate. (Dougall_Photography/iStock/Getty Images)

Biosecurity bill draws questions from Senate ag committee

Some senators said the bill should cover everyone who enters a livestock operation because anyone can pose a biosecurity threat

Reading Time: 4 minutes Senate scrutiny has begun on Bill C-275, the private member's bill to amend the Health of Animals Act, which would increase fines for those who unlawfully enter livestock barns and processing facilities.

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Ontario court strikes down portions of ‘ag-gag’ anti-trespass law

Decision a "decisive victory," animal rights proponents say

Reading Time: 3 minutes Some sections of Ontario’s so-called ag gag law have been struck down by the province’s Superior Court. The court ruled April 2 that certain provisions within the Security from Trespass and Protecting Food Safety Act 2020 violate the right of freedom of expression under the Charter of Rights, declaring them to have no force or effect.  



Conservative agriculture critic John Barlow speaks Nov. 24, 2021 in the House of Commons. (Screengrab from supplied video)

Anti-activist bill back before Commons committee

Bill adds protections for biosecurity, farmers' mental health, Barlow says

Reading Time: 3 minutes A bill to create harsher penalties for unlawful entry onto farms and biosecure zones is back before the House of Commons after a previous iteration died on the order table in 2021. Conservative MP John Barlow brought forward Bill C-275, “an Act to amend the Health of Animals Act (biosecurity on farms),” as a private […] Read more