Emily McCoy should go to jail

Last year, a violent foreign activist named Emily McCoy came to Canada with the specific intention of assaulting a Canadian cabinet minister. McCoy despises Canada’s government, but instead of using peaceful, democratic means, she wanted to bring about change by attacking a government official.

Isn’t that the definition of terrorism?

McCoy successfully carried out her crime and was convicted last week. But luckily for us, she “only” chose to smash Fisheries and Oceans Minister Gail Shea in the face with a tofu cream pie, not shoot her with a gun.

McCoy isn’t some hot-headed teenager committing a youthful prank. She’s 37 years old. And this is what she does with her life. It’s not the first time she was charged with breaking Canadian laws, either. A few months before she assaulted Shea, McCoy also trespassed at a private Fisheries Council of Canada event.

Does it matter that McCoy’s crime spree is motivated by her hatred for our seal hunt instead of, say, Islamic fundamentalism? Does that excuse her violence against Gail Shea?

McCoy is part of PETA, the ironically named People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. Ironic, because PETA clearly has no compunction about getting violent against humans. Neither does McCoy, who has yet to apologize to Shea.

Incredibly, the Crown prosecutor struck a plea bargain that let McCoy go without a day in jail for her assault conviction. She’s just not allowed back into Canada for two years, and she’s not allowed to visit Canadian embassies or consulates in the U.S., where she lives. That laughable sentence sends a message: You can go right up to a Canadian elected official and smack her in the face, as long as you do so with righteous indignation.

Once McCoy and her lawyer, James Silver, were finished giving each other high-fives, they were out spinning the press. Silver said McCoy was “well intentioned”. Apparently that’s enough to convince a Canadian prosecutor to let a violent foreigner go free without a dollar in fines or a day in jail.

After the plea bargain, McCoy was talking about violence again. Not her own violence — but Canadian “violence” against seals. She’s now a convicted criminal, but in her mind, it’s Shea and the Canadian government that permit crimes.

The attack on Shea was not a personal attack. It was an attack on Shea as the representation of Canadian democracy. That makes it worse. It’s an attempt to terrorize and embarrass Canadian public officials from carrying out their duties and the wishes of the electorate.

Last year McCoy used a pie. What if next time it’s not a pie? What if it’s a jar of acid? Or a gun?

Impossible, you say? Well, you don’t know the animal rights movement well enough, then.

PETA is a multinational corporation based in the U.S. with $36 million in annual revenues. Much of that money goes to disgusting propaganda, such as their ad campaign comparing farm animals to Holocaust victims. But some of it goes to fund more violent groups — such as the Earth Liberation Front, which has claimed responsibility for a string of arson attacks.

Is that OK, too? Why not, if smashing a cabinet minister in the face gets off scot free?

The FBI has investigated PETA for its terrorist ties, but found no illegal activity. Here in Canada, we laugh it off when a cabinet minister is attacked.

Where’s our national self-respect — and our defence of our democratic institutions?