Posted on 03/31/2005 8:27:52 PM PST by Brian328i
OTTAWA (CP) - Many frustrated cattle farmers might be dispatching angry letters to protest the lingering mad-cow crisis.
But only one cattle farmer has gone this far: dumping a cow carcass on the property of his federal MP - Don Boudria. An Ontario farmer faces criminal charges in connection with a bovine protest package left shortly after midnight on the former cabinet minister's driveway.
Pierre Etter, 49, says he's not sure how he will plead when he shows up in court April 26 to face charges that were announced by the RCMP Thursday. They could land him up to two years in jail.
"I'm not afraid of defending the actions I've taken," says the resident of Sarsfield, Ont., near Ottawa.
"It was an act of protest intended to mobilize public opinion. I was outraged because the government didn't do much to solve the (mad-cow) problem."
The cattleman seized on his unconventional protest plan after one of his cows began limping and needed to be put down.
After a dilemma about what to do with the carcass, the cow was tossed onto the back of a tractor and driven two kilometres to Boudria's home.
The former Liberal House leader and minister of public works got the news from his staff the next morning.
Phone calls to Boudria's constituency office informed staff that the MP for Glengarry-Prescott-Russell might have a hard time leaving his driveway.
The phone call then went out to Boudria, who was still at home with his wife.
"I have difficulty understanding why I am a target when I have always fought for agricultural interests in my riding and will continue to do so," Boudria said at the time in a statement.
The U.S. border has remained partly closed to Canadian beef since May 2003, when a case of mad-cow disease was discovered in Alberta.
Hopes of an end to the border crackdown were dimmed earlier this month when the protectionist U.S. cattle industry group, R-CALF, obtained a court injunction in Montana to temporarily keep the border closed.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is appealing the injunction and President George W. Bush has expressed his personal opposition to the border closure.
But Etter says anti-U.S. policies by Ottawa have resulted in the border staying closed. He says he's sorry if Boudria felt targeted personally.
"He seemed pretty furious," Etter said. "But it wasn't directed at him. It was directed at the government."
The federal charge of criminal mischief carries a sentence of up to two years in prison. Etter also faces a provincial charge of violating the Ontario Dead Animal Disposal Act.
I'll go ahead and say it.
A mooving protest.
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