
A BC ostrich cull has brought out climate conspiracies — and RFK Jr.
Illustration by Ata Ojani/National Observer
Keep climate a national priority — donate today
Goal: $150k
$39k
Listen to article
When dozens of Katie Pasitney's 400-odd ostriches got sick and started dying in mid-December, the Edgewood, BC farmer, who shares responsibility for the farm, never imagined that her herd would become a front in a far-right movement's battle to sow mistrust in government institutions and public health measures.
Five months and 69 dead birds later, on May 13, Universal Ostrich Farm lost a months-long legal battle to stop the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) from culling the birds to prevent the spread of avian flu. The agency ordered the cull to curb an ongoing avian flu pandemic that killed more than 8.7 million domestic birds in BC since 2022.
That's not how the decision was received. Supporters from around the world have donated tens of thousands of dollars to help cover the farm's legal fees. Conservative website Rebel News dedicated a campaign to the fight. On May 14, Conservative MP Scott Anderson visited the farm, posting on Facebook that he will be "formally asking the CFIA to hold off on the cull while we explore the possibility of saving the ostriches for further immunology research."
The ostriches even got a public statement of support from US president Trump's vaccine-sceptic Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
After the court ruling, Pasitney invited supporters to flock to the farm and guard the birds against the imminent cull. Many showed up, sleeping in their vehicles on the property said Pasitney in a Facebook Live feed on Tuesday. People commenting on the livestream said they were planning to drive to the farm from as far afield as Edmonton, AB — roughly a 10-hour drive away.
"It's been growing massive momentum," Pasitney said. "We're fighting for the lives of our agricultural sector and we're obviously trying to keep our animals alive in the process, to be able to use our research to help humanity."
The ostriches are flightless and quarantined on the farm, but their story has soared. They've generated clicks and provided emotional content for the right-wing ecosystem of social media, podcasts and online content, simultaneously helping to fuel a movement that's threatening to undo generations of scientific and social progress.
When dozens of Katie Pasitney's 400-odd ostriches started dying in mid-December, the Edgewood, BC farmer, never imagined that her herd would become a front in a far-right movement's battle to sow mow mistrust in government institutions.
***
Pasitney's life was shaped by the birds.
"You go out there and you see these big, majestic animals with the biggest eyes that you could ever imagine – you look at their eyes and you just see the world," she said.
Her grandfather was the president of Alberta's ostrich association when she was young, with hope to create a market for the flightless birds' eggs and meat. That never materialized, but the familial passion for ostriches stuck.
As other farmers ditched their birds, the family collected them for cheap to raise on the farm, she said. "We've loved those animals forever, but my mom saw the opportunity in the health benefits of these animals and she always told us kids growing up that these animals are going to do something amazing for humanity one day."
About three years ago, the farm partnered with Japanese veterinarian Dr. Yasuhiro Tsukamoto, who made headlines in 2021 for creating a mask coated in ostrich COVID-19 antibodies that glowed under ultraviolet light if it encountered the virus. Encouraged by the findings, they started a company to produce so-called "nutraceuticals," like nasal sprays or lozenges, infused with ostrich antibodies against viruses like bird flu or COVID-19, she said.
Dr. Tsukamoto did not respond to a request for comment emailed to Kyoto Prefectural University. Pasitney offered to share research backing up her claims about ostrich antibody-infused nutraceuticals with Canada's National Observer, but had not done so at time of publication. She also said that Dr. Tsukamoto is still partnering with the farm, but "knowing we've been in this place where the government isn't supporting us, he's been quiet."
There is no evidence that nutraceuticals infused with ostrich antibodies protect people or animals from infectious disease, but shaky science aside, the farm was operating fine until Dec. 28, 2024, when the CFIA received an anonymous tip about dead ostriches on the farm. Commercial poultry farms must report any symptomatic birds to the agency immediately for testing within hours — which the ostrich farm didn't do.
Two agency officials showed up on the farm two days later and collected samples from two of the recently deceased birds; those samples tested positive for H5N1 avian flu, and the farm was ordered to cull its entire herd by Feb. 1, 2025.
Under Canada's infectious disease policy, officials can declare a poultry farm infected by a virus like avian flu if they find a single positive case of the virus. The disease is extremely infectious, with a 100 per cent mortality for chickens and about 52 per cent when it jumps to humans. Canada's rules align with international guidelines, which typically require poultry farmers to cull their entire herd and limit movement in and out of the farm if officials declare that a farm is infected, the CFIA wrote in a statement.
But where the CFIA issued an order meant to protect public health, Pasitney saw a "sinister" attempt by the government — she believes acting on behalf of the pharmaceutical industry — to bury their research on ostrich immunity and antibodies.
"We're contending … with Big Pharma, who wants us to be fully reliant on vaccinations," she said.
"We have an opportunity here to see what would happen if we allowed the virus to burn out and allow it to just go through the flock like nature intends," she said in a Facebook Live video to supporters on May 13th.
The farm tried to block the cull, applying for a rare genetics exemption, which Pasitney says they received on Jan. 2. She says it was revoked on Jan. 10.
In a statement, the CFIA said it never granted Universal Ostrich Farms an exemption. The agency conducted an in-depth questionnaire about the farm, which is standard practice for all farms impacted by the avian flu. Officials asked about the "farm's claim of antibody research" because it was unique and "the CFIA wanted to have a complete understanding of their activities as part of the evaluation of the [cull] request."
Pasitney and her co-farmers soon hired lawyers, obtaining an injunction against the cull on Jan. 31 while awaiting a judicial review of the order. Lee Turner, a lawyer based in Kelowna who represented Dr. Charles Hoffe, a BC doctor who faced allegations of spreading misinformation to patients about COVID-19, is part of the farm's legal team. (The body that investigated Hoffe, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of BC, dropped the investigation, citing the withdrawal of the COVID state of emergency.)
The case was heard in mid-April. On May 13th, a federal judge threw out the case, allowing the cull to proceed.
Meanwhile, outside the court, the ostrich herd galvanized a network of conservative activists, conspiracy theorists, anti-vaxxers and climate deniers with a pattern of using misinformation to undermine public health measures and climate action.
"It's kind of been spreading like wildfire because people are picking up that we're not just fighting for the ostriches, but we're fighting for everybody," Pasitney said. "We've had a global response."
On Jan. 22, BC Rising, a loose BC-based network of climate deniers and anti-vax advocates who successfully paused consultations on a regional climate action plan in the Kootenays in 2023, talked about the ostrich farm's situation on its weekly livestream Facebook gathering. The group hosted a web page to support the farm on the BC Rising website and used their Facebook meetings to offer updates about the court case.
Several of those videos — some over two hours long — were hugely popular, and despite being more than two hours long, one had been played more than 25,000 times at the time of writing.
The story was picked up by rightwing website Rebel News, which in January posted in support of the farm and directed readers to send letters of protest to federal officials. The website has continued to follow the story, posting eight standalone stories about the farm and including them in regular weekly updates. Drea Humphrey, the website's BC bureau chief, consistently posted about the story on X.
The farm's decision to go public paid off financially: the farm's "Save our Ostriches" website has received $86,281 from over 750 donors to cover legal fees as of May 14.
Pasitney believes the outpouring of support has come from because "a lot of people" are, like her, convinced government agencies like the CFIA are supporting efforts by big business to harm people. The CFIA doesn't want the farm to set a precedent where farmers "stand up and protect their animals," she said.
"It does not just happen in Canada. This is something that is happening everywhere, and [we need] to protect our farms," she said. "It's overreach in its highest form."
***
That narrative of government overreach and regulatory authoritarianism comes as no surprise for experts of the right's nebulous online presence, who see it fueling resistance to everything from climate action to vaccines.
"The right has done this a lot," said Hanna Morris, a professor at the University of Toronto who studies climate and fascism. Far-right media will take real concerns about government agencies making decisions that impact historically marginalized communities people or communities, she says, and spin them to help people who have not faced the same kind of historic discrimination evade collective action — like a public health-motivated cull.
"It's tapping into this method of weaponizing victimhood," she said.
The conspiracy underlying Pasitney's claims emerged in the anti-lockdown and anti-vax movements that swept through Western countries during the pandemic, before fuelling a movement against so-called 15-minute cities — a planning concept that describes a walkable city — 2022 and 2023. Rightwing advocates wove it into the years-long Dutch farmer protests against climate measures, and opponents to Canada's proposed plan to reduce carbon emissions from nitrogen fertilizers also incorporated it into their battle.
Tanner Mirrlees, a political economist at Ontario Tech University, wasn't surprised to see the fringe right embrace the ostriches' fate.
"This is exactly the kind of emotionally charged human story that far-right populists and their propagandists love to glom onto and instrumentalize for their own political and ideological gain," he wrote in an email.
"These far-right movements are masters of opportunism: they latch onto sympathetic, relatable, human-scale events — particularly those pitting ordinary working people against seemingly faceless government agencies — and reframe them to expand the reach of their conspiratorial ideologies. The goal isn't to protect animal welfare; it's to hijack the news cycle, grow their online presence and bring newbies into their fold."
The CFIA's cull order is a "textbook example" of responsible, science-based action to prevent a larger public health crisis. No one "wakes up wanting to order the slaughter of ostriches. But no one wants to wake up to the emergence of a new variant of avian flu either," he said.
The decision by rightwing media and online personalities to paint the situation as a battle between government and farmers is "irresponsible," he said, erasing the ethically and emotionally difficult work Canada's public health officials do to protect people and animals. Pushing back on that narrative is essential: it is possible to both hold empathy for the farmers and their ostriches and defend the legitimacy of public agencies, he said.
Pasitney pushed back on Mirrlees's argument that interest in the farm by the far-right media and social media ecosystem is an example of populist opportunism.
"No," she said. Everyone who has expressed support "see the bottom line picture to save the ostriches [and] save the science," with some hoping the birds can help protect animals and people from harmful infections.
***
On May 13, a federal court judge tossed out Universal Ostrich Farm's judicial review on the basis the CFIA properly followed its policies and procedures, and allowed the CFIA to complete the cull. The farm must also cover $15,000 of CFIA legal fees.
"We are heartbroken by this outcome and uncertain about the future of our farm. As we navigate this incredibly difficult time, we ask for patience and your continued support," read a post on the farm's Save our Ostriches Facebook page.
Speaking with Canada's National Observer a day before the decision came out, Pasitney said part of the farm's anger with the CFIA lay in how the agency interacted with them.
"There's never been a minute where they've come here and said: 'Look, we're really sorry. We understand how painful this will be,'" she said. "If there had been a level of compassion: asking about how we're feeling, helping us through the process, not confusing us, not giving us the wrong exemption package, not misleading us … it would have been a healthier dynamic."
Farmers that immediately comply with the CFIA's request for a cull might get more empathy, she suggested, but because they "showed a bit of a fight and resistance," they've met "nothing but harassment" from the agency.
In a statement, the CFIA said that its officials "understand the significant emotional and mental strain that producers face when their premises are infected with avian influenza." Every farmer is assigned a case officer, and all agency employees are expected to treat producers with empathy, the statement said. Still, "an empathetic response does not mean that the applicable disease control measures will be avoided."
The CFIA has not said when it will cull the birds. However, Dan Elliott, communications coordinator for the Regional District of Central Kootenay confirmed by email that the provincial government granted it permission to dispose of the carcasses in the Ootischenia Landfill, "if the cull happens."
In the meantime, the farmers are calling on supporters to come help them. In a Facebook Live dated May 13, Pasitney's mother, Karen Espersen, asked people to "come and surround our farm so [the] CFIA cannot kill these beautiful, healthy animals." The farm has a huge field for camping, a fire going and outhouses, added Pasitney in a separate livestream she filmed in selfie mode while walking around the farm.
"If you do come, this is a peaceful, humble place of kindness and gratitude," she said. "We're just trying to make the biggest change with the most love. Thank you everybody."
May 15th 2025
Marc Fawcett-Atkinson
Journalist
Keep reading
An inside look at the plot to make climate denial mainstream
By
Marc Fawcett-Atkinson
News
September 19th 2023
I spent 3 days at Jordan Peterson's anti-climate ARC conference. Here's what I saw
By
Marc Fawcett-Atkinson
Opinion
March 10th 2025
The global network that ties Pierre Poilievre to Jordan Peterson
By
Marc Fawcett-Atkinson
Analysis
April 8th 2025
Share this article
Share on Bluesky
Share on LinkedIn
Comments
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Toronto Sun
an hour ago
- Toronto Sun
Visitors on expired visas expected to leave on their own: Immigration Minister
Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Lena Metlege Diab rises during Question Period on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Thursday, June 5, 2025. Photo by Adrian Wyld / THE CANADIAN PRESS Visitors who have stayed in Canada well past their visa expiry dates are required to leave the country on their own, Immigration Minister Lena Diab said. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account It is not up to the Immigration Department to enforce the removal of deportees, she added. 'Anybody whose visa expired is expected to leave,' Diab said Monday night in the House of Commons, according to Blacklock's Reporter . A 2024 government briefing note indicated there may be up to half a million undocumented migrants in Canada. Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner questioned why the government allowed a large number of people into the country on temporary visas. 'Why is she persisting in letting in hundreds of thousands of people when Canada is in the middle of a health-care crisis?' said Rempel Garner. Diab replied that the Liberal government under new Prime Minister Mark Carney is 'working towards sustainable immigration by reducing our temporary resident numbers.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'That's baloney,' said Rempel Garner. 'All the statistics show they've actually increased those numbers. Meanwhile, Canadians can't get into an emergency room. Why are they persisting in bringing in hundreds of thousands of students and foreign workers on temporary visas when people can't find jobs?' According to Diab, Canada has allowed 290,000 new foreign students so far this year. However, she didn't address how many of the 1,040,985 international students in Canada in 2023 are still here after their study permits expired. 'The reality is there were way less than 290,000 housing starts last year and there's a lot more than 290,000 people waiting for family doctors right now,' Rempel Garner said. 'Why is she persisting in raising immigration levels when people can't find a doctor or a job?' Diab reiterated that the government is working on sustainable immigration levels. In April 2024, a briefing note titled Undocumented Migrants said the number of people who didn't leave after their visas expired could be as much as half a million. 'There are no accurate figures representing the number or composition of undocumented immigrants residing in Canada,' the note said. 'Estimates suggest the population could be a high as 500,000.' Read More NHL Toronto Maple Leafs NHL Columnists Toronto Blue Jays


Global News
an hour ago
- Global News
Poilievre calls for ‘severe limits' on Canadian population growth
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says the Canadian population has grown out of control and is calling on the Liberal government to further reduce immigration. 'We want severe limits on population growth to reverse the damage the Liberals did to our system,' Poilievre said during a press conference Tuesday in the foyer of the House of Commons. 'The population has been growing out of control, our border has been left wide open. This has caused the free flow of drugs, illegal migration, human trafficking and much worse.' Poilievre did not take followup questions from reporters on what he meant by 'severe limits on population growth.' Global News has reached out to the Conservative Party of Canada for clarification but did not receive a response at the time of publication. Story continues below advertisement Canada's population saw a substantial surge between 2021 and 2024, jumping by nearly nine per cent, according to Statistics Canada. In March of 2024, Canada's population reached 41 million people, the fastest domestic growth in over 60 years. 2:14 Canada's foreign student asylum claims hit record high in 2024, set to grow in 2025 Under former prime minister Justin Trudeau, the Liberal government said it would reduce the number of permanent residents admitted annually by 21 per cent from 500,000 to 395,000 in 2025, then falling further to 380,000 by 2026 and 365,000 by 2027. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy The Trudeau Liberals also promised to cap the number of temporary residents admitted from 6.5 per cent to five per cent of the total population by the end of 2026. 0:31 Canada's population hits 41M, seeing fastest growth in more than 60 years Prime Minister Mark Carney has broadly accepted the previous Trudeau targets, writing in his mandate letter to cabinet ministers that he wants to return 'overall immigration rates to sustainable levels.' Story continues below advertisement During the election, the Conservative platform promised the party would cut permanent immigration levels 'to a sustainable rate similar to the levels under the Harper government.' Under former prime minister Stephen Harper, Canada's permanent immigration levels ranged between 240,000 in 2006 and 285,000 in 2016, but it was unclear if the Conservative proposal was an absolute reduction in immigration or proportional to current population levels.


Toronto Sun
7 hours ago
- Toronto Sun
KINSELLA: PM Mark Carney's top 5 stolen Conservative policy planks
Ascertaining Carney's motive isn't difficult: Under Trudeau, the Liberal Party (and the government it led) had careened wildly to the left Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, left, and Liberal Leader Mark Carney. Photo by Bryan Passifiume / Greg Southam / Postmedia Network 'Pierre Poilievre, call 911. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account A banker has broken into your place, and is stealing all of your ideas.' It's a bit of an exaggeration to make a point, of course — Liberal leader Mark Carney hasn't stolen all of the Conservative leader's ideas. But it's mostly true. Ascertaining Carney's motive isn't difficult: Under Justin Trudeau, the Liberal Party (and the government it led) had careened wildly to the left. The Grits had become unmoored from their historic positions on a host of issues, and had devolved into a pious, preachy woke-ist cult, one that ceaselessly lectured everyone about how they should run their lives. As predicted in this space, Trudeau left, Donald Trump arrived, and Carney appeared at precisely the right moment. He immediately commenced stealing Conservative policy planks. Here's a roundup of the top five stolen items. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Defence. Poilievre promised to spend 2% of our gross domestic product on defence by the year 2030. He promised a 'warrior culture.' This week, Carney pledged to meet, and beat, Poilievre's defence spending number: He would reach the elusive 2% threshold this fiscal year. Not half-a-decade from now. Carney's announcement, made days before the G7 leaders' summit in Kananaskis, Alta., caught everyone by surprise. The Tories, in particular, were clearly flummoxed. The best Poilievre could do was yammer on about the need for a budget, so they could see how Carney was going to pay for what they had been calling for. Yawn. Taxes. For the two years leading up to the 2025 election, Poilievre had been promising to 'axe the tax.' It was his mantra, and it worked — hordes of voters flocked to his side. It worked so well, in fact, it convinced the unlikeliest Canadian of all: One Mark Carney, who 'axed the tax' mere hours after he was sworn in as Prime Minister of All Canada. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Carney was transparent about his policy appropriation. He did it right out in the open, signing what the CBC called 'a prime ministerial directive.' It was a bit of performative Trump-style politics — something else that Carney purloined from Poilievre. Likewise, in the selfsame week, Carney cancelled the capital gains tax inclusion rate increase, something else that the Conservatives had been promising to do, for months. The Conservative reaction? Stunned silence. Read More Trade. In the final week of March, before the official start of the election campaign, Carney solemnly addressed a battery of microphones. 'The old relationship we had with the United States based on deepening integration of our economies and tight security and military cooperation is over,' he intoned. 'It's clear the U.S. is no longer a reliable partner … there will be no going backwards.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The Liberal leader's words went around the globe, and went further than Poilievre had been prepared to go, too. The Conservative leader had been critical of Trump's tariff madness, but he adamantly refused to turn his back on the Americans, and kept holding out for a new trade deal with Trump. Liberals mocked him for it. Well, that was the election, and this is now. As my colleague Brian Lilley revealed in a big scoop days before anyone else, we now learn that Carney's government has been quietly negotiating with Trump — to, surprise surprise, sign a new trade deal. 'No going backwards,' had said Carney, who immediately commenced going backwards. The Tory reaction? Unknown. Perhaps they were calling Crimestoppers. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Pipelines. Right after being sworn in as The Minister Not In Charge Of Pipelines, Steven Guilbeault started pontificating on pipelines. There's no need for 'an entire new pipeline,' said the former Greenpeace leader. That position mostly conformed with the pipeline stance of the Trudeau regime. Not Carney's, however. Carney had — again — peered over Poilievre's shoulder, and copied what he saw. If Guilbeault had been testing his new boss, the test failed. Carney appeared on CTV and cut Guilbeault's legs out from under him. Said Carney: 'If you want a simple answer on 'Will I support building a pipeline?' Yes. That's the simple answer.' The Conservative reaction: Zero. Immigration. Under Trudeau, the number of migrants to Canada soared to historic levels. A housing and services crisis resulted, which wasn't fair to Canadians or the newcomers. Poilievre called Trudeau's immigration policy unsustainable. On the campaign trail, Carney said precious little on the subject. In power, however, Carney has now unveiled a sweeping security and immigration bill, the Safe Borders Act, and he calls Trudeau-era immigration levels 'unsustainable.' Which is what Poilievre had called it. We could go on, but you get the point. Mark Carney is a closeted Progressive Conservative, and a bit of a copycat. The aforementioned Brian Lilley had the best summary: 'Pierre Poilievre won the argument — even if Carney won the election.' Toronto Blue Jays World Editorial Cartoons Relationships Olympics