Foie gras protest comes to Holland
Buoyed from its successful campaign to have foie gras taken off the menu of Beckta restaurant, the Ottawa Animal Defense League has Holland Avenue’s Canvas Resto-Bar in its sights as the next establishment it hopes to shame into a goose-liver ban.
As the clip above will show, ADL activists have taken to greeting the dinner hour patrons of Canvas with graphic picket signs and brochures graphically detailing the force-feeding of ducks and geese by foie gras producers. Video highlights include ADL member Jason Halvorson ( seen here in the Ottawa Citizen) getting a strange case of “camera-shy” — he is the one trying to conceal himself behind the banner ( Editor’s note: see comments below) — and other members warning that other west-end restaurants are “on the list”.
But if the ADL’s plan is to rattle Canvas owner Charles Beauregard, it may not be working. In fact, Beauregard sounds almost positive about the protests outside his bistro; listen here for his serene reaction to the latest demonstration.
While I appreciate your writing about our foie gras campaign, I want to point out that I am Jason Halvorson and that is not me in the video. I did not even attend this particular demonstration as I was out of town at the time. While we encourage discussion and debate about foie gras and the production methods used to produce it, I do think you should check all of your facts before posting a story. To be fair there was only this one mistake, but I am always willing to discuss the issue and answer any questions at any time.
The real Jason Halvorson
You have our apologies Jason; we have struck through the copy to acknowledge that the mistake was ours.
-Editor
This is an example of why you should not necessarily believe everything you read in the media. We told the individual filming us that the “camera shy” person was not Jason (we told him because he was trying to claim that it WAS Jason)! I’m glad the error was corrected, however, as most misinformation in news stories is typically left as is.
I was curious so I went the the website the woman named at teh end of your interview – as a place to find out what Ottawa restaurants are targeted. nofoiegras.org…
Within the site there is a list of restaurants – but it is USA only…also it is a US based site…surprised there is no Ottawa site – Maybe she was misinformed?
OH just saw the list –
http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=429250124&blogId=449230550
No other Wellington Rest are on it…I guess Juniper,Gastro, Allium, Absenthe are foie gras free?
The reason why Beckta took foie gras off their menu was not due to the actions of this or any other group. Although they’d like to claim this ‘victory’ to bolster their petty existence.
Don’t get me wrong. I like animal too. Usually served with a side and some wine.