The Ford government has passed its controversial "food safety" bill, intended to protect farmers from trespassers but derided by animal rights activists, legal experts and some journalists as an obstacle to free expression.

Bill 156, the Security from Trespass and Protecting Food Safety Act, sailed through third reading 68-22 on Wednesday. The bill increases existing fines for trespassing on farmers' property to up to $25,000 or more. It is necessary "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 bill reads. It has wide support from the province's farming groups.

Agriculture Minister Ernie Hardeman said in the House on Tuesday that farmer safety was a major concern. "Farmers told me they simply did not feel safe in their home anymore," he said.

But animal rights activists say the bill is clearly aimed at protecting farmers from embarrassing whistleblowing, such as hidden camera videos exposing animal cruelty. The bill specifically bans entering a farm under "false pretences."

“Animal farming is already highly secretive, with animals locked up behind closed doors with no regulations to protect their welfare, and no government inspections to monitor their well-being,” said lawyer Camille Labchuk, the executive director of legal activism group Animal Justice. “Whistleblowing employees are often the only way the public has to see what conditions are like on farms. Whistleblower exposés have aired on national news programs, revealing horrific suffering and leading to animal cruelty convictions."

Ontario already has some of the highest fines in Canada for farm trespassers, she said. Labchuk added that transparency is needed now more than ever, as meat-processing workers are dying of COVID-19.

Hardeman denied that the bill targets whistleblowers.

"I have said it before and I’ll say it again: This bill does not put an end to whistle-blowing," he said on Tuesday. "If you work on a farm or in a food processing facility and you suspect animal abuse is occurring or you witness something questionable, I encourage you to report it."

He encouraged journalists to simply ask farmers to see inside their operations. "Ontario’s farmers are the nicest and most welcoming people in the province."

Hardeman stressed that the government supports the right to protest, but "that right has never included trespassing on farms or interacting with the transportation of livestock," he said.

NDP agriculture critic John Vanthof, who is Hardeman's nephew and has been critical of Bill 156, joked about a deputant during committee hearings who thought "the fix was in."

"I had to assure her that, as I’ve said here before, Minister Hardeman is the reason that I’m NDP, so she had nothing to worry about," he said.

Vanthof said he was sympathetic to farmers who wanted to prevent break-ins on their property, and that he thinks the government could have made the fines for trespassing even stronger. But he said he disagreed with the portions targeting whistleblowers, saying he worried the bill encourages farmers to take the law into their own hands through citizen's arrests. He noted that Ontario Regional Chief RoseAnne Archibald and other First Nations leaders raised concerns about vigilante justice.

"The name Colten Boushie comes to mind," Vanthof said.

He added that he has seen no evidence of farm biosecurity being damaged by an undercover journalist. "Find me that article. Find me that."

PC MPP Goldie Ghamari and attorney general critic Gurratan Singh also got into a dustup on Tuesday over who has been to a farm more recently, with Singh noting that both his parents are farmers. "I love farms. I love farmers," he said.

Pro tip: If you're going to speak about your duty as an MPP to understand issues, you should probably take your own advice & visit an Ontario farm. If you think me asking about the last time you visited a farm is a "gotcha" question, that's on you, #amateur. #OnPoli #OntAg pic.twitter.com/o5Y0JqJlV0

— Goldie Ghamari, MPP 🇨🇦 (@gghamari) June 17, 2020

Animal Justice says it plans to launch a court challenge of the bill, which a number of legal experts say is unconstitutional. A letter signed by 43 lawyers and legal professors in February noted that similar laws have been struck down in multiple U.S. states under the first amendment, and will likely be struck down in Canada under the charter right to free expression.

"As with many US ag-gag laws, section 4(6) of Bill 156 appears to target investigative journalists and protected speech, and has no connection to the stated goal of protecting property and biosecurity," it reads, specifying the portion of the bill that deals with "false pretences."

The courts have struck down similar legislation in the US, and the negative publicity from these court challenges has undermined people’s confidence and trust in farmers.

Let’s promote Ontario food and farmers instead of suggesting that we have something to hide. (2/2)

— Mike Schreiner (@MikeSchreiner) June 17, 2020

The bill was also opposed by the Canadian Association of Journalists and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association over concerns that it violates the Charter right to free expression.

The federal and provincial governments also announced a joint $10-million emergency assistance fund for Ontario beef and hog farmers today, to cover increased costs during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ontario passes ‘food safety’ bill critics say targets whistleblowers

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