Niagara, Ontario Makes It Known – Once Again – That Freedom Of Speech Means Almost Nothing Here

A Commentary by Doug Draper, Niagara At Large

 There’s an old line that speaks to the right all of us should cherish in Canada and the United States to freedom of expression, and it goes something like this – ‘I may not always defend your view on an issue, but I will always defend your right to express it.’

The billboard you were not allowed to see in Niagara, Ontario. Banned as it was by certain ‘thoght police’ in the region.

In that spirit, I find it more than a little disturbing that a billboard sign by a group of animal activists in Niagara, Ontario, supporting a vegan diet and opposing the eating of eggs, was pulled down in the Niagara city of St. Catharines this May 2015.

If you know anything about a vegan diet, it excludes everything or virtually everything to do with animal products, including milk, milk-related foods and eggs. It is a diet, I must confess, that is a bridge way too far for me. And as much as those who embrace a vegan diet may be appalled by this, I just had two hard-boiled eggs before I posted this. And just before I went to bed the night before, I had a glass of milk. 

Very sorry if the vegans out there can’t deal with that.

 Nevertheless, let’s get back to the right of people in our part of the world, where we like to pride ourselves in still being free to express our views in whatever is left of a democratic society.

Where is that right when a special interest group – in this case some egg farmers – can lobby a commercial sign firm to take their billboard sign down, simply because they are vegans who don’t like eating eggs? Do these egg farmers actually think that this billboard will persuade me and most others not to eat eggs? Do they feel that threatened that they have apparently successfully lobbied the billboard sign firm to rip the sign down?

If so, perhaps there are more people willing to stop eating chicken eggs that I might ever have imagined, but I somehow doubt it. There are still one hell of a lot of us ought here who like eating eggs and using them in various recipes.

So perhaps these same egg farmers might want to remember that just this spring, Canada and other countries around the world memorialized the end of a Second World War where countless hundreds of thousands fought and died for the right to freedom of speech.

Apparently some of the  people in the chicken factory industry have forgotten that many in Canada and  our neigbouring United States fought and died for the right of people to express their views, – even if they happend to be expressed on billboards we don’t like.

Perhaps some of those same egg farmers should also be  asked if their chickens are free range or are housed or cramped toether tightly in factory farms that can contribute to disease of the birds and those of us who consume them. If they are housed  in factory farm conditions, perhaps our provincial, state and federal governments should be moving in on these operations more often to ensure we are not purchasig chickens and eggs that may be diseased.

And perhaps there should be no more government aid to these factory farm operations when they report losses due to the disease of the birds.

In the middle of all of this,  members of Niagara Action for Animals – a group I have wholeheartedly supported on many issues from protesting animal circuses and keeping marine mammals in captivity to the great efforts they make to find orphan animals homes – placed a billboard in St. Catharines, Ontario – a region of Niagara that should include at least a few people who believe in freedom of speech – that has been pulled down.

Now here is the media release Niagara At Large has received from Niagara Action for Animals on this subject.

Controversial “Do You Know Who Made Your Eggs Today?” Billboard Pulled

May 2015 –St. Catharines, Ontario – On May14th, 2015 – Niagara Action for Animals (NAfA) had a billboard erected on Ontario Street in St. Catharines.

The billboard was designed to encourage people to think critically about their food choices. Specifically, the ad featured a photo of two hens who were rescued from a “typical” industrial egg farm along with the question “Do you know who made your eggs today? Located at the bottom of the ad was the action statement “Choose Compassion, Go Vegan.”

On May 22nd NAfA was astounded to learn that the billboard had been taken down just one week after being launched. A representative from Outfront Media informed us that they removed the billboard after receiving complaints and pressure from egg farmers.

This act of censorship is reminiscent of NAfA’s “Go Vegan” ad campaign that was deemed “too controversial” by the St. Catharines Transit Commission in 2009. Many community members are again outraged over yet another attempt by a large corporation to prevent a grass-roots group from raising awareness about the unnecessary suffering of animals used for food

We surmise the egg industry was threatened by our billboard because we wanted to shed light on the ugly reality of the egg industry in which millions of hens suffer behind the scenes to produce eggs for human consumption. In Canada, 98% of eggs are produced on industrial factory farms from hens confined to wire battery cages.

Hens forced to live in such inhumane and overcrowded living conditions are unable to perform basic natural behaviours; they are denied any opportunity to stretch their wings, roost, perch, dust-bathe, or even turn around. Many battery hens also have their beak tips amputated without anesthetic, and most suffer from ammonia burns, broken bones, mangled feet, and extensive feather loss, bleeding and abrasions. 

The reality is that egg laying birds endure lives of daily frustration and immense suffering and their only escape from this torture is to be slaughtered for chicken by-products, feed, or compost when their egg productivity decreases. 

Niagara Action for Animals (NAfA) is an all-volunteer registered charity whose mission is to advocate for all animals through education and community outreach. NAfA envisions a compassionate society that respects the innate worth of all beings, both human and non-human.

For additional information on NAFA and its work, click on nafa9@sympatico.ca .

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