Canadian govt could be defying Supreme Court order, may be killing ostriches at BC farm: Farm spox

Wednesday marks a full month since the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and the RCMP invaded and occupied Universal Ostrich Farms located at Edgewood, British Columbia, a picturesque town in the heart of the Kootenays, located not far from the Valhalla Provincial Park and about two hours east of Kelowna.

But farm spokeswoman Katie Pastiney believes the federal agency is ignoring a Supreme Court of Canada order that granted a temporary stay of execution and is systematically watching the birds die, either through neglect, cruelty or other means. And a former federal minister of agriculture says the occupation of the farm is probably costing taxpayers $100,000 per day.

The CFIA was preparing to kill 399 ostriches based on a cull order that followed an apparent outbreak of avian flu on the farm in December 2024. It didn’t matter to the government agency that the birds had since developed herd immunity to the disease and were obviously healthy.

The CFIA was also continuing to refuse to test the birds even after a highly publicized intervention by US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr who argued the birds needed to be studied to see what antibodies they created to develop immunity to avian flu; that these animals provided vital information that could protect humans as well.

But before the CFIA could kill a single ostrich, the Supreme Court of Canada announced that it would consider hearing an appeal of a federal court ruling that sided with the CFIA and in the meantime, it ordered the CFIA to stand down its death squad until further notice. But it also gave “custody” of the birds to agency and that has created complications.

But the CFIA has clearly decided to define “custody” in the severest terms possible and many believe the bureaucrats are disregarding the court order to cease and desist and are continuing to kill the ostriches through deliberate neglect, cruelty and other, more obvious means. The federal agency continues to insist the birds could still develop a “mutant virus” but many scientists say this is highly unlikely.

There is obvious video evidence of cruelty and harassment but Pasitney, who is the daughter of farm owner Karen Espersen, has repeatedly stated that she believes ostriches are dying every day – yet the CFIA refuses even to allow Pasitney or her mother to count the birds, let alone feed them. She is also hearing reports of dart guns being heard at night and on Monday, a shocking video was released on social media that showed RCMP officers emptying massive amounts of garbage from dumpsters at a local gravel pit that has been taken over by the CFIA as a temporary landfill. Not only was the procedure unsafe but there are questions about how much trash the agents and cops are producing and whether it includes ostrich carcasses.

The Post Millennial was able to locate the man who filmed that footage: Blake Roberts lives in Kelowna and is one of the supporters who has been a frequent visitor to the farm throughout its ordeal this year.

In an interview this week, Pastiney told TPM that the CFIA has not just interpreted the law as it pleases but could be either directly or indirectly ignoring an order from the Supreme Court.

“This is an agency that operates above the law. They make their own law and international law, right? They're involved with the World Animal Health Organization, taking the lead and the directives from the World Health Organization, which then is our own health agenda … and we're not taking the direction, and we're not making the decisions at the federal, provincial or municipal levels anymore,” said Pasitney.

“We need to ask, why? Who oversees the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Why are they making their own rules? Why are they allowed to operate with no oversight? They even go through their own audits … [but] where are the ostriches? And they actually handle their own internal investigation. The RCMP is not really in charge of investigating them. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is in charge of investigating themselves,” Pasitney continued.

She asked how Canadians would feel if criminals were allowed to conduct their own investigations into their activities. Pasitney and her mother, who were actually charged on the first day of the CFIA occupation when they attempted to feed their animals, both gave statements to the RCMP on Saturday, asking that the CFIA be charged with animal cruelty.

But Pasitney is not optimistic.

“I don't have faith that there's going to be any charges brought down,” she said. However, she noted that even if the CFIA continues to act with impunity from the law it will be held accountable by the “thousands and thousands of people” who have watched the struggle at the farm that Pasitney continues to say is more than the fight of one family against a ravenous federal government. “There's millions of animals that deserve the right to live. Farmers deserve the right for their livelihoods to be protected. No property should ever be seized by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. No animals should be seized by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency based on speculation. We need to band together, and we need to protect our food security, our sovereignty, our voices, our freedoms. And Canada right now, I think we're at a really critical time and a pivotal time in history that we need to stand on the right side of Canadian history, and we need to protect each other.”

Pasitney has also been attacked by social media bots that are apparently well funded. The Post Millennial is investigating where that funding is coming from.

“Ever since the Canadian Food Inspection Agency put a social media task force on us … there was so much misinformation, so many lies and the attacks on many of our personal families, on us – the degrading material that's put out there about us. It is hurtful,” she said, adding that “the mainstream media has done a bang up job putting out there some really, really distasteful material.”

Former federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz says the Liberal government of Prime Minister Mark Carney has to bear the shame of this attack on a Canadian farm and family.

“I think it’s become a debacle. The world is watching, and there’s no accountability for anything that’s being done out there. There’s a stay before the Supreme Court, but while that stay is in place, the CFIA has moved ahead with impunity to do whatever they think they’re going to need to do in the end. And I think that’s just morally and ethically wrong … They’ve gone way beyond any kind of budget capacity. They’re outspending anything I’ve ever seen them try to do,” said Ritz in a recent interview.

He noted that the cost of testing was about $100,000 when there were 399 birds still alive. “Now there are fewer. Why that would be an impediment when they’re probably spending that per day with everything they’re doing? Would that not be the ‘Get Out of Jail Free’ card for the CFIA and the RCMP to back away and say, ‘Hey, we’ve tested them. Now everything’s fine. We’re good,’” Ritz continued.

The cost of this operation might be the single factor that could shut it down before even more ostriches mysteriously die – that and public outrage over the way the government treats average Canadians who don’t happen to agree with their policies.