4 years after animal rights activist's death, family still seeks the 'truth about what happened'

Mark Powell commemorated the anniversary of his wife Regan Russell's death Wednesday, joining a group of advocates at the spot where she was killed four years ago.

The Hamilton woman died when she was hit by a transport truck on June 19, 2020 while protesting outside Fearmans Pork Inc. in Burlington, as she had done every week for years. She was 65.

Russell and some friends, as part of the activist group Toronto Pig Save, protested controversial provincial legislation that had just passed that hiked fines for trespassing on farms and food-processing facilities.

Powell, and dozens of animal rights advocates — many of whom did not know Russell — gathered outside the farm and threaded flowers through a barbed wire fence, letting drivers in the area know about Russell.

"I'm not going to avoid the place, because it was too important to Regan. That was her cause … and I've got to be there to honour her," Powell told CBC Hamilton.

"It's just nice to see other people show their support for Regan — people that never met Regan show up. People have now been introduced to the animal rights side of life by virtue of Regan's death.

"Some of them have taken it a step further and do what Regan did, you know, they show up to what's called 'bear witness' and just hold the sign and draw attention to this place," Powell added.

At the time of her death, Russell was protesting Bill 156, the Security from Trespass and Protecting Food Safety Act, which came into force just one day before she died. 

The bill created "animal protection zones" that prohibit animal rights activists from interfering or interacting with the farm animals in a motor vehicle.

The province enacted the legislation in response to demands from the agricultural industry and about 120 municipal resolutions calling on the government to do more to control trespassing.

Ontario argued the legislation was aimed at "protecting animal safety, biosecurity, and the safety of farmers as well as preventing economic harm that can arise from threats to animal safety and biosecurity."

In April, Ontario Superior Court Justice Markus Koehnen struck down parts of Bill 156 after advocacy group Animal Justice, along with an activist and a journalist, launched a Charter challenge in 2021.

They argued the new law infringed on their freedom of expression because they could not tell the outside world what was happening inside a farm if they gained access to the property through a false pretence.

The act required consent from the owner to be on a property where animals are kept, raised or slaughtered. That consent was voided under the law if someone lied to get on the land.