Is a pie in the face a terrorist act? Newfoundland Liberal MP wants Ottawa to investigate attack on Fisheries Minister means PETA is ‘acting as a terrorist organization’
Fisheries Minister Gail Shea is hit with a pie while speaking in Burlington, Ont., on Monday, Jan. 25, 2010.
Halifax — A Liberal MP thinks the federal government should investigate a U.S.-based animal rights group under Canada’s anti-terrorism laws after a pie was pushed into the face of Fisheries Minister Gail Shea.
Gerry Byrne’s outrage stems from an incident Monday in which Ms. Shea was hit in the face with a tofu cream pie as she was about to deliver a speech in Burlington, Ont.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has taken responsibility for the incident, saying it was part of a campaign “to stop the government’s ill-advised sanction of the slaughter of seals.”
In an interview with radio station VOCM in St. John’s on Tuesday, Mr. Byrne said he thinks what happened should be reviewed under the legal definition of terrorism.
“When someone actually coaches or conducts criminal behaviour to impose a political agenda on each and every other citizen of Canada, that does seem to me to meet the test of a terrorist organization,” said the MP from Newfoundland and Labrador.
“I am calling on the Government of Canada to actually investigate whether or not this organization, PETA, is acting as a terrorist organization under the test that exists under Canadian law.”
It is not clear whether such a demand would have any traction under Canada’s anti-terrorism laws although it is the focus of an ongoing freedom-of-speech debate in the United States.
The Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, signed by former president George W. Bush in 2006, gave officials stronger tools to deal with threats from animal rights activists.
It increased the penalties for intentionally damaging property, injuring a person or placing them in fear of being injured.
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Tags: Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, Animal Rights, Burlington, Canada, Cream Pie, Face, Gail Shea, George W. Bush, Gerry Byrne, MP, Newfoundland and Labrador, PETA, United States, VOCM
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