Michael Schmidt walks into the Ontario Court of Justice in Newmarket, Ontario, Wednesday, June 4, 2008. Schmidt was found in contempt of court Monday, October 20, 2008.
Farmer toasts contempt verdict with glass of raw milk
October 20, 2008
Staff Reporter
NEWMARKET – Less than an hour after farmer Michael Schmidt was found in contempt of court for distributing raw milk, he joined his supporters in a toast outside the Newmarket courtroom.
The glass was filled with white, creamy, unpasteurized milk.
"Here’s to the real milk," said Judith McGill, one of his dozen supporters who came out to support the farmer this morning.
"Here’s to everybody," said the calm Schmidt, who had waited for a month to hear the verdict.
In September, Schmidt went on trial after York Region filed a contempt charge against him for failing to obey a May 2007 court order that prohibited him from distributing raw milk within its borders.
Selling raw milk is illegal in Canada and health officials say it carries the risks of spreading salmonella, E. coli and Listeria monocytogenes.
This morning, Justice R. Cary Boswell found Schmidt in contempt, but reserved sentencing for a later date.
Dan Kuzmyk, the lawyer for the region, suggested a $5,000 fine and payment of the $53,000 legal bill run up by York Region.
The prosecution did not ask for jail time.
Schmidt said he was willing to bear whatever fine the judge would render.
"I’m prepared to pay any amount," said Schmidt outside the court.
"But it’s ridiculous people in this country can’t decide what they want to drink and eat," he said.
In court, after Boswell rendered his decision, Schmidt spoke about his cause for raw milk, likening his movement to that of Mahatma Gandhi and civil rights activist Martin Luther King.
"It’s not the milk here, it’s the principal that people need to make the decision of what they put in their bodies. When government tells them what they are allowed to eat or not eat, that’s a very sacred thing," said Schmidt, elaborating outside the courtroom.
He said both outcomes, a non-guilty or guilty verdict, is not a loss for his campaign for raw milk.
Schmidt runs a co-operative venture near Owen Sound with about 150 cow-share members. He claims he does not sell or distribute raw milk but he simply provides the milk to the cow’s owners, all of whom pay to board the cows at his farm.
Schmidt defended himself in the case to save money ahead of a wider trial scheduled for 2009, in which he faces 20 charges laid by the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Grey-Bruce Health Unit.
Schmidt says he’ll be awaiting his sentencing and he plans to appeal the judge’s decision.
In the meantime, the milk on his farm will continue to flow, he says.