The Supreme Court’s decision not to hear the case regarding the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s (CFIA) order to cull ostriches on a B.C. farm set off a wave of reactions across Canada. Angie Rasmussen, a virologist at the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO) at the University of Saskatchewan, told CTVNews.ca Thursday that the hearing was dismissed because the CFIA has the “legal authority” to manage avian flu outbreaks. “The policy that Canada has agreed to within our international trade agreements is the stamping-out policy, as established by the World Organization for Animal Health,” Rasmussen explained. She called it the CFIA’s “obligation” to make sure the agreements are upheld. She also disagreed with the argument, made by those advocating for the ostriches, that not testing the birds “defies common sense.” Rasmussen added that there was no “practical way” to test the nearly 10-foot-tall birds without knowing where they may be shedding the virus, or whether they are still infected. “There’s really no practical way to actually test these birds,” Rasmussen said. “We don’t know where the birds may be shedding the virus, or whether they are, indeed, still infected. She says because of the height of the ostriches, ranging between seven and nine feet tall, as well as them being “very strong, very fast,” trying to get close enough to test them would be “very dangerous to people.” ‘It’s not the overreach of government’ To find out if the birds all tested negative, Rasmussen said they would have to conduct repeated tests, using a vast number of resources and expenses. She added that it would still not tell us if the birds were infected, because the virus can hide out in different parts of the body. “We can’t take the risk. The only way to be sure that we have eliminated that risk is to cull the entire block, which is why the stamping-out policy is the one that is used in Canada and most other countries around the world,” she said. Rasmussen noted that there were two ways in which she thinks the issue could have been averted: if the farm applied an effective type of biosecurity that could have prevented the birds from being infected, or through vaccinations. “If more countries do adopt vaccination strategies, would allow us to potentially renegotiate some of those trade agreements and not use the stamping out policy,” she said. “It is not the overreach of government; it is the government doing their work.” However, Rasmussen believes the amount of politically driven ideologies connected to this conflict could lead to “rational arguments” being nullified. “This is language that does incite violence,” she added. Southern benefactor Meanwhile, south of the Canada-U.S. border, U.S. billionaire John Catsimatidis has called for the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate the dismissal, appealing to Prime Minister Mark Carney to “do the right thing.” “We don’t want the prime minister arguing with (U.S.) President Donald Trump. We don’t want President Trump arguing with the prime minister,” Catsimatidis said. “All we want is truth and justice in the American way.” Catsimatidis, who also financed the Universal Ostrich Farms’ legal defence, told CTVNews.ca on Thursday that he was “very disappointed” by the hearing. “We make no demands. We just request that the truth get out,” he said. “And I guess if the court has decided, the court has decided.” Catsimatidis said they have asked the DOJ to get involved and investigate the culling because he thinks there “something is wrong.” “We just want to ask them to satisfy maybe a million Canadians and Americans that are asking for it,” he added. “We didn’t ask Canada to pay for anything. We’re just saying let the doctors decide if these animals are guilty of anything.” ‘Political and social’ implications The 10-month long battle of the farm seemed to conclude Thursday, but not before U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy and members of his Make America Healthy Again movement suggested that Canada study the birds’ immune response to the avian flu instead of culling them. Earlier on Thursday, Justice Minister Sean Fraser told reporters that the government was “pleased” with the Supreme Court’s decision. “It’s important that (Agriculture Minister Heath MacDonald) and the CFIA are able to protect the health of the general Canadian public, and of the food that we consume in the poultry industry, as well,” Fraser said. “This is a decision that is following the science and evidence.” Alternatively, B.C. Conservative MP Scott Anderson released a statement calling it a “poorly executed operation.” “This operation has cost Canadians millions of dollars, hundreds of hours of RCMP overtime, and has turned the once peaceful town of Edgewood into something that looks like a science fiction movie set featuring Area 51,” Anderson’s statement read. Bioethicist and environmentalist Kerry Bowman told CTVNews.ca that the entire event has been a “master class” in how to not handle conflict, adding that Canadians are seeing it as government overreach. “They see it as something that should never have happened,” Bowman said. “I think it’s got the political and social implications that are very serious, and not to mention, the animal welfare issues.” The conflict has been allowed to be deeply entrenched and is causing damage to the whole country, according to Bowman. However, he believes it is far from over, since members of the U.S. government are also involved. There is no evidence that supports the theory that these ostriches have any unique antibodies, he added, but it is not a “new outbreak.” Bowman said there was “something duplicitous” about the whole incident, adding that the focus should be on the main cause of the outbreak. However, he said that despite all of that he still trusts the science, adding that there can still be another way to move forward that does not require culling the birds. “I think the political damage and the social damage is far greater than we’re estimating,” Bowman said. With files from CTV National News senior correspondent Judy Trinh
