Mark's Blog Posts

The Usual and Customary Shield: How Criminal Law Exemptions for Agricultural Animal Treatment Undermine the Foundations of Personhood and Criminal Justice

I. INTRODUCTION There is a contradiction within Canadian criminal law: the implicit farming exemption. Sections 444 to 447 of the Criminal Code are functionally invalidated for industrial farming and any other Canadian-sanctioned commodified animal use.[1] The exemption has settled into Canadian jurisprudence, condemning farmed animals to a life below the Code's protections and undermining the Code itself.[2] It trades justice for the victims criminal law was meant t

msnyd019

May 23

Funding Compassion: The Hidden Tax Bias Against Farmed Animal Welfare

Funding Compassion: The Hidden Tax Bias Against Farmed Animal Welfare[1] I. Introduction A. The CDTC and CG-011 This paper examines the Charitable Donations Tax Credit (CDTC) as a federal tax expenditure, using the treatment of farmed animal welfare organizations as an illustrative case of how administrative guidance and delegated industry standard-setting can filter access to a multi-billion-dollar subsidy. The CDTC is part of the federal government’s tax exp

msnyd019

May 23

Sentient but Silent: Animals, Political Exclusion, and the Charter in Canadian Democracy

I. Introduction The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (“Charter”) provides the collective Canadian community with basic rights, including life, liberty, and security of the person.[1] Courts have interpreted “security of the person” as protecting interests in physical and psychological integrity, including freedom from state-imposed undue suffering.[2]Courts have also created precedent that identifies that animals are sentient and have the ability to suffer. Yet, under

msnyd019

May 23