the legality of raw milk is not on trial in Ontario

[Guest guest]

my comment on the Ontario contempt of Court trial : raw dairy farmer Schmidt is missing the point. He doesn't understand that what's going on in this round is whether or not he complied-with the Order of the Court.

Did he do what the Court told him to do, in 2006, or refrain from doing what he was told not to do? And that is all.

whether raw milk is a health hazard, or not, is irrelvant to what the Judge has to consider

the way things are done in the British system, Schmidt's chance to argue the reasonable-ness of the Order, was when he was first hauled-in, two years ago.

He gets another go at it, next January when he answers the charges of "selling raw milk". Then he can then bring on a Constitutional Challenge to the law itself.

What he ought to do is to apologize to the Court for breaching the Order ... purge his contempt. ... so as to get the hell out of there asap.

on the contempt charge = he's toast. I predict conviction, then a conditional sentence.

Unfortunately, it'll be misconstrued in the media so that people think the issue of 'whether raw milk is legal' has been settled in Canada.

the REAL MILK is still flowing here

Gordon , Burnaby British Columbia

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Court shown footage of white liquid being carried to bus in raw milk case

NEWMARKET, Ont. - A private investigator hired to watch an Ontario farmer accused of selling raw milk took the stand Thursday in a contempt of court trial to answer questions about his findings.Footage of several people, appearing to carry coolers to and from a blue school bus, was shown in court and identified as video surveillance taken by the man."There were several times where I saw what appeared to be bottles or jugs of white liquid," Dennison said, adding he also watched with high-powered binoculars."But I can't tell you with absolute certainty what that white liquid is."Lawyers for York Region who hired the detective were seeking to prove the product was unpasteurized milk being illegally sold to consumers from a church parking lot.Farmer Schmidt was ordered by court to respect a public health directive asking him to halt his alleged activities.The trial resumed Thursday on shaky ground in a courtroom in Newmarket, north of Toronto.Schmidt, who is representing himself, tried to prove that raw milk isn't a health hazard while questioning a York Region health official.However, the Superior Court judge hearing the case stopped the proceedings to ask Schmidt if he understood the charges against him.The judge then asked the health official to leave the stand twice while he explained legal procedures to Schmidt.The farmer has chosen to represent himself, saying hiring a lawyer would leave him bankrupt before he faces 20 charges at a wider trial next year.During a break outside court, Schmidt said his goal was to show that York Region's lawyers have "no hard evidence" against him."The more important issue here is they had all the means to collect hard evidence, and they haven't done it."Schmidt faces a fine or possible jail time if convicted.