George Wright (candidate for Councillor of Osgoode Ward) responds to survey on Animal- and Veg-Friendliness.
General Response:
Firstly I was a member of NCVA for several years. We farm south of Ottawa in Metcalfe. Our speciality is our raw gluten free organic rolled and steel cut oats that we sell at the Brewer Park Farmers’ Market, the only ones available in North America. As you will see, my opinions are quite different, I do not disagree with your stance, but feel it is not government’s responsibility to be the solution. Government meddling is partly how the situation go so bad in the first place. Admire your work though, george
1. Will you commit to publishing the position statement of the Canadian Dietetic Association that acknowledges that well-planned vegan diets are healthy for all life-stages, to correct misinformation among the public. If so, how would this been done (tax or water bill insert, bus board signage, proclaiming a vegan day, other?).
Response: People should be free to eat whatever they choose. All food labeling in Canada is a farce. All Bran cereal is 1/3 sugar and it is supposed to be a healthy one. Those who are concerned about what they eat already purchase all their food at the farmers’ market. Pushing more information will not help, in fact in my opinion it does the reverse.
2. Will you support a meatless Monday campaign in City of Ottawa cafeterias and catered affairs, encourage school boards & post secondary institutions to follow your example, as well as the Municipality of Gatineau, engaging staff from the department of Public Health in the outreach? Note that agriculture is a larger contributed to climate change than all forms of transportation combined.
Response: Again, point 1. Yes agriculture is the problem but it is also the solution. Our food choices are what can save the planet. Herbivores created all the best soils on this planet, they are what can heal it. Study what “Joel” says. I could not farm sustainably without herbivores. They are what heals our land. Mind you, we have them mobbed up, rotated daily, and always on the move, much different than the status quo.
3. Will you support a bylaw banning circuses and other entertainment acts that use animals for entertainment in Ottawa?
Response: The public will decide, it is not government’s responsibility to manipulate public opinion. Government does not have the authority to dictate what is allowed on private property, I would support a ban on public property though.
4. Will you support wildlife rehabilitation organizations? How so?
Response: I would for wildlife in decline. Dangerous wildlife within city limits, I am assuming the urban area and not the whole city, should be dealt with by whatever means that the officer on site deems safest. No guidelines should circumvent what is decided upon in an emergency. As a farmer who loses about 10 percent of my income to deer, and who has seen the population go from nearly extinct to out of control in my 45 years I wish you had listed some species in decline.
5. Will the City of Ottawa publish its policy or develop a bylaw on the treatment of dangerous wildlife within the City?
Response: NA
VegOttawa Association 